I made it. I finally made it to Africa. This week has been filled with many orientation classes and time getting to know the area in which I am living. Which in theory is good, but for me has been frustrating. I have been so eager to get to Africa and start serving, this time is making me feel dull and unproductive. I know God is in charge of this plan, but it has really been discouraging in some ways.
For Christmas this year, I received a new calendar from my brother. This calendar focuses on helping me maintain monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals. The one change on which I wanted to focus was using my time more productively. I realized I was not honoring God with my time. I was spending too much time watching tv or scrolling through social media posts. I figured when I got to Africa, God would just fill in that void for me.
One constant is my mornings in South Africa have been filled with either personal or group devotional time. The first group devotional time was led by one of the staff at East Mountain, Spanky. He asked us two questions: Who has God created me to be? What has God called me to do?
I was so eager to get to South Africa and start doing good that I made my need for productivity more important than listening to God. Spanky made the comment, “We have the rest of our lives to go out and do good.” Then he asked, “How different would our lives look if next week we spent our time finding God’s purpose for our lives?”
That really convicted me, but I found myself thinking that I could figure that out even if I was serving at the same time. I was discussing my personal conflict in not feeling productive with my roommate. She made me realize that maybe my idea of productivity is not the same as God’s. I began to wonder, what if I dropped all the things society has taught me about the meaning productivity and just listened to God? What if the only thing God is asking of me today is to show love to a clerk at the grocery store? What if God doesn’t want me to be busy right now, so I have a chance to hear him more and he can prepare me for things far greater than I could ever imagine? As I struggle to let go of old habits and learn to trust God more, I encourage you to spend time answering those questions. I would love to hear what God saying to you.
Prayer request: 1. South Africa is experiencing a drought. If we do not get more rain in the next 80 days the city may turn off water to the homes in our area. Please pray that we get lots of rain.
2. I found out that I am allergic to the mosquitoes in South Africa. Please pray that the medication will work and my body will become adjusted.