You know when I said there were 163 days left of my DTS and how I was so excited for them? Don’t worry, I’m still just as excited and joyous to be here — probably even more so — but now there’s a healthy dose of apprehension too.
I’m looking forward to the coming weeks of lecture, but I had no idea what the Lord had in store for me for just a week, let alone FOR 10 WEEKS.
It feels like I’m on a treadmill and my trainer is continually amping up the pace, and I’m trying to learn to run at a new speed I never had before. Now, when I look at what this time has in store for me, I’m anticipating with joy what comes next, but there is also a sobering reality that I will need to pray for endurance. LIKE…. A LOT.
This is such a joy, though. This is exactly what I wanted, prayed for, and waited for.
Sometimes I feel like a balloon filled to the brim with air — so full, almost to bursting.
Every morning when I go to prayer set, before we start worship in community, there’s an invitation they give:
Enjoy God.
Every day, I find myself looking deeper than the surface of that invitation. What is it truly like to enjoy God? What are the depths of joy I can feel toward His presence?
Sometimes I feel like a balloon filled to the brim with air — so full, almost to bursting.
There are moments when I can’t believe I’m able to experience what is before me.
Feeling the presence of God settle over me every day.
An impromptu Galentine’s with the girls on my DTS, where we spoke words of encouragement and love over each other and then prayed together in community.
Riding in the back of a bakkie (Afrikaans word for truck) with 9 other people on our way to a ministry night. (SO FUN)
Learning and absorbing a new perspective toward the Bible and the life I can have with God. Shout out to BIBLE FRIDAYS.
Becoming even more excited to read the Bible every day.
But even through the joy, there have been hard moments as well. One of these has been learning to trust the Lord in new ways and give up control.
There’s also been a bad cold spreading throughout the base, and my whole room has been affected. I got sick on Wednesday, and by Friday I was so tired that I went to bed by 4pm. I found a solution, though: SLEEP. By Monday morning, I had slept over 43 hours. Who knew sleeping could be a discipline? I was a ghost that weekend, only coming out for food, water, and meds. There were times my roommate became very concerned about my ability to breathe during some of my (harder) coughing fits.
Good news, though — I am officially on the mend and just praying that the trajectory continues that way throughout the week.
That’s one reason it’s taken me over two weeks to post. Another reason is that we were challenged last week to read the full book of Romans every day for 10 days. I loved it. I can’t remember the last time I read the full book of Romans, let alone every single day. It showed me how deep you can truly dive into a book of the Bible. It amazed me that every single day I could read the same words and find new realizations of what they meant.
Reading takes time, however, so I only had enough time to read after classes before going to bed. Reality is different here. Sleeping in is waking up at six in the morning. Waking up on time is closer to five. I have now (through necessity) become a morning person. The Lord really does change people.
Reading Romans was a perspective shifter. The more I read, the more hope and excitement I’ve had toward my walk with God. One of the first scriptures in Chapter 5 of Romans says, “We can confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
One of our teaching moments this week explored when God first revealed His Glory to man. This moment involved Abraham, who was the first to be called a friend of the Lord, making covenant with Him.
When God revealed Himself, it was the first time He spoke about His own character to man. In that moment, He could have said, “I am all powerful and mighty,” striking awe with the knowledge of His abilities. But instead, He said, “I am the Lord your God. I am merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth.”
The first thing God wanted us to know about Him is that He is approachable.
Secondly, God’s glory is His pursuit of relationship with us.
What connects these two places is this: Romans shows how relationship with God empowers us into new life and freedom we could have never imagined — walking in the glory of what a relationship could be like with the One who knows literally everything about you and LOVES you in everything.
This is just one golden nugget found in that book. Let’s just say my Bible is now a rainbow of color because of how much I’ve highlighted each chapter.
I lasted 5 days reading Romans before having to slow down and shift to different chapters instead of reading a whole book. After day five, it grew increasingly difficult with me being sick and feeling the full brunt of our schedule. Now, if I want to do something similar again, I can plan better.
I’m so grateful that I am challenged the way I am here. I’m confident that as I seek to see God more clearly, I will see Him — truly and deeply — the way He has always deserved to be seen.
ALSO, I FOUND OUT WHERE I AM GOING ON OUTREACH.
I’m going to…. drum-roll please…
KENYA
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