A week ago yesterday, I was at the office for my first day of work back after three weeks of vacation covering most of the month of September. Those three weeks were very much needed and last Friday as I made rounds of conversation with each staff member, getting updates on how things went while I was away, they all commented on how energized and refreshed I seemed! And I definitely noted the difference in myself as well. God is good!
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The first week and a half of vacation was spent traveling all along the northern states from MI west to WA. God in His amazing way worked out the entire trip so that I was able to visit everyone I had on my list to see this time around, and more!
I landed in MI just before midnight on a Wednesday and was able to spend Thursday with my parents and four younger siblings, catching up on what's happened since I was last there for New Year's.
Less than 24 hrs after landing in Flint, I was on the road in Micky the motorhome with two of my brothers and their wives heading to ND for our cousin's wedding taking place that Saturday.
We arrived Friday evening at our sister and brother-in-law's place joining another brother and his family who traveled up from TX, another sister and her hubby, and several cousins and extended family. It was a fun-filled weekend with lots of laughs, memories, and celebration!
On Monday morning my best friend from childhood and I stashed our stuff into her car and hit the road heading west to MT to visit our other bestie. We burst in on her little home early evening and stayed awake til midnight talking and catching up, even though we had to take off at 5 the next morning for a day trip to WA.
Some very good friends of ours' little toddler son was in the PICU in Seattle and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to visit them since I was "so close" anyway. Tuesday in Seattle was a cheery, sunny day and the few hrs. spent with our friends was worth the 16 hr round trip.
We got back to our bestie's home in MT in the wee hrs of Wednesday morning and spent the next two days chilling and making memories with her and her sweet little family.
I was home in ND once again by Saturday, in time to spend the day at the farmer's market with my sister and niece.
That Sunday I was given the opportunity to share at my home church, Northland Harvest Church, about some of the things God has been teaching me in the work here. The following Sunday was spent with the body of believers at Open Gate Church who have been faithful in support and have sent many prayers our way. Both times were such sweet hours of refreshing spent in the Holy Spirit's presence and receiving uplifting encouragement from many people I hadn't seen in a year.
The week in between those two Sundays was filled with precious time spent with my sisters' and the rest of my family who lives in ND. Mixed into all the time of rejuvenation, both in needed alone time and needed family and friends time, I gained a deeper gratitude for each person who has been so faithfully supportive of this journey God has set me on. When I first got to ND for my cousin's wedding, several people commented on how quiet and withdrawn I seemed. To go from that to hearing staff and girls, three weeks later, comment on how energetic I was when I got back to my Dominican home is the kind of soul refreshing time only love through people can bring.
In the week since being back, changes keep happening in the home and ministry as a whole and the strange feeling of being halfway through my two-year commitment has hit me. Next year, I will need to make a decision as to whether or not to continue working here with this ministry. My boyfriend and I have been praying for clear direction for both of us, separately and together, in knowing what opportunities God has for the future in ministry, location, and life in general. Yesterday morning as I was journeling, God reminded me of how important it is to wait on Him. Sometimes we don't know what the future will hold - whether it will continue the same or change - but waiting on Him is the discipline He always teaches me when these questions start coming around and my "wanting to know" tendency kicks in.
Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
