When I was on the plane headed to the Horn of Africa, I thought I knew what I was getting into. Looking back, I don’t know how I could have possibly thought that, but I did. I knew it was the hottest country in the world (on average) and I knew I would be working at a school. Yet, when I first arrived, I quickly realized just how much I did NOT know. My job looked different than I expected, my housing situation was different, and the city itself was a total shock. I realized in that first week that to make it here, I would have to step it up.
In order to survive, and hopefully thrive, I was going to have to go outside my shell and engage in a new language, figure out public transportation, make friends, figure out my role as a teacher, teammate, roommate, and friend. I was going to have to step up my reliance on the Lord. There was absolutely no way on Earth I could have made it through that first week, much less the first year, without complete and utter reliance on the Lord. Yet, this reliance was not necessarily a personal choice or worthy of recognition on my behalf. Instead, it was a desperate need in which the Lord humbled me time and time again to remind me that I could not function without stepping into His grace, Truth, and love. I had to step up in acknowledging my faults, my insecurities, my sins, and my lack of control. I was going to have to step up so I could lay it all down.
I have now been here 15 months and let me tell ya, sometimes it’s easier and sometimes it is just as hard as it was that first month. Stepping up to lay it all down at the Cross is challenging, but I am a walking testament to the importance and necessity of letting Him lead. I am asked to do a variety of things and seem to wear 20 different hats in one day and at times I forget that I can only step up to these responsibilities because the Lord has already done the work. I don’t believe next year will be any less busy, so my prayer is that I continuously strive to step up and lay it all down!