7/6 Reflections on My Re-joining with My Team

July 6

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Oh the happiness of finally being able to join my team. It’s been a long three days confined in my grandparents’ house by my fever and mom’s great caution. It has also been a very humbling and trying experience. Countless times I was frustrated, upset, annoyed, and overall unhappy. I contemplated throwing something really hard through a window (those who know me or have been around me at snow retreats know that I’m fully capable of doing it too) or just plain getting on a train myself and leaving. Of course, doing either would’ve been stupid and would have ended up with pretty bad consequences. What I’ve learned though is patience in waiting for God’s timing for everything. After a two day delay, I almost wasn’t able to get here today either. This morning, I woke up with a low fever, after 30 straight hours without a fever. Of course, that meant I couldn’t leave. After trying the usual ways of temperature lowering, such as taking a hot shower, rolling in blankets for heat, and drinking a ridiculous amount of liquid, my temperature didn’t decrease significantly. I had been waiting for two days already, staying another one or more would have been ridiculously frustrating as the camp officially starts tomorrow, Wednesday. I prayed and pleaded, cried out, for a miracle. When all hope seemed lost, God finally let me go in the form of a doctor’s approval. Once again, the amazing way God works. He made sure I was as broken and needy of Him as possible for this mission’s trip, which is the only way He would be able to work through me fully. I expect to see a lot of miraculous works of God here in my work for Him, but even if none happen, this experience has already changed my life. My prayer request is that I be able to continue accepting God’s timing in everything. While things may not go as we humans expect it, nothing is every out of God’s hands and His ultimate, perfect plan. I pray that we also have patience in waiting for the Lord to answer prayers. The camp begins tomorrow and we expect it to be hectic and possibly problematic. I ask God to let us be “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”