The past two weeks have been full of lots of little adventures. All of the interns finally arrived and it has been an amazing experience getting to know them and figuring out how to do life together. What better way to bond with strangers than grocery shopping with them, organizing a cooking/cleaning rotation, and learning how to live with 6 girls in one room? On Monday we found out about a surprise camping trip and had 30 minutes to pack. We had a two day camping retreat so we could all enjoy some good fellowship. We went on a hike, shared testimonies around the fire, and had lots of good laughs. We have also spent the past week on a social media fast which has been quite refreshing and rewarding. Before the fast I had been looking at all my friends' and family's instagram posts, snapchat stories, and tweets. Seeing them all doing the things I would normally be doing at home made me a little homesick and bothered. Removing that distraction has allowed me to dig deeper in the relationships around me and in God's word. One day during my quiet time I was looking back through my journal at some old devotions and found something pretty cool. A year ago when I was in South Africa I saw a book on my host families desk called "If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat". It caught my attention because I love being in a boat on the water so I asked about it and then when I got home I started reading it. It talked about how Peter didn't just immediately get out of the boat, he first asked "If this is you, command me to come to you". Point being we have to discern if something is truly a call from God or a foolish impulse. In my notes I wrote about how I was trying to discern whether or not going to Africa for the internship was a call from God or a foolish impulse. "Water walkers get out of the boat" your boat is something that keeps you safe from fear (staying home with my friends and family was my boat). Well I did that part, I got out of my boat and packed for two months in Africa....but I kept reading through the rest of the notes and was reminded that there is more to water-walking than stepping out of the boat. "Water-walkers expect problems", when Peter stepped out of the boat and started walking he took his eyes off Jesus and looked down. Focusing on the storm he started to sink. I immediately realized that was exactly what I had been doing. I had been focusing on how much I missed my family, and how many things I was missing out on with my friends and thats exactly why I was feeling so discouraged. I totally looked down at the storm and took my eyes off Jesus. "The deep truth about water walking: The fear never goes away---But you still grow, fear and growth go together like macaroni and cheese. The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort"(John Ortberg 21). Sure am glad I took those notes for my future self to read, who knew?....oh yeah GOD knew.
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