20 minute drive at 4:30am to a friend's house.
15 minute drive to the airport.
Check in at the kio....wait, missing a passport.
Wait for team member to speed home to retrieve precious entry document.
Check in at the kio...wait, it's too late to check in for the flight?
It can't be too late.
God's Grace.
Check in at kiosk.
Arrive at gate.
Short flight to Dulles.
Quick layover. Breakfast. Sprint to next gate.
12 hour plane ride to Dubai.
6 hour layover. Excitement building. Awareness of culture deepening.
Quick lunch.
Sprint to next gate.
How are we sprinting again?
3.5 hour flight to India.
India.
INDIA.
Why India?
Because we were sent.
That's a brief....very brief summary of what our travel looked like up until we arrived at the airport in India. I'm leaving out customs, immigration, baggage check and the...."eventful welcome to India" drive....because frankly I don't have the brain capacity to include it and you don't care that much.
But the point of this post is to share something that was made very clear to me during our team's travel this week.
When you know where you're going, and why, it makes all that you have to do to prepare, and any obstacles you have to get through to get to, small steps towards the final destination. Everything is put into perspective.
All of our travel stresses paled in comparison when I remembered why I was going through what I was going through. To get to India.
A 12-hour flight wasn't a nuisance, in fact it went by in the blink of an eye. Well, maybe a couple long blinks.
The enemy's attacks were easily recognizable when I realized who I was going to India to please.
When you're doing Kingdom work, you have a Kingdom frame of mind.
So why don't we carry that with us all the time?
I'm extremely guilty of losing my Kingdom frame of mind. A coworker annoys me. A student shows up 30 minutes late because they "ran into traffic" but they're holding a Starbucks cup. (Some mornings I don't know if I'm more upset that they blatantly lie or that they didn't bring me a Caramel Macchiato. Rude.) The errands I "have to" run between work and life. The unexpected. The unwanted. The undesired.
Here's the thing: I'm not sure when we got the idea that when we're doing work for God it won't come without opposition. I also don't know when we separated doing work for God with living our lives. They are one in the same. Our lives as believers should be a reflection of Christ's love and a display of worship to our gracious and merciful Father.
It seems to me that every breath we take should point to the glory of God and every action we perform should be to make His name known.
And let me be the first to tell you, that is something I forget....a lot. Sometimes I forget on purpose, if you really want me to be honest. But if we view these as obstacles that God will see us through to get to the next place He has called us to, well it'll be just like that 12-hour flight.
I read. I slept. I ate. I prayed. I prepared mentally and emotionally so I could be ready for what God will put in front of us while we're meeting His most beloved children halfway across the world from the comfort of my home.
Simply....that should be our "To Do List" every day.
Reading. Resting. Remaining hungry for His word, His presence.
Preparing.
Right before I left, one of my best friends (she actually gets a lot of blog shout-outs, what up SBB!) who prays with and for me often said "this is your butterfly transformation."
Several times in the past few weeks I shared that quotes or pictures of transformation had been placed in front of me and become a common theme. And then when we were walking around in the Dubai airport, I saw the little gem below on the right as yet another confirmation.
I know God is telling me that change is coming, and I don't know what that looks like, but I don't have to in order to be obedient.
I just need to prepare. I may not emerge as a butterfly for another few months, or another few years, or it may happen when I wake up tomorrow.
But the key is that while I'm waiting, I shall do so actively. I shall wait in preparation. I came to India out of obedience. Preparation. I joined the Apprentice team out of obedience. Preparation. I write to reflect. But it prepares me. I speak to share. But it prepares me.
A lot of times preparation looks like the very opposite of what you think it should. Or, at the very least, it looks like the very opposite of what you think you should have to go through. But those experiences and our faithfulness are exactly what God uses to refine us, so that He can use us.
If we want to be used by the Father, we have to be willing to go through the sanctification process.
Don't let the restrictions at the kiosks keep you from checking in.
Don't let your defenses down so you cannot recognize the enemy's attacks when you are tired and hungry.
Rest in God. Be fed by His word.
Enjoy every bit of that flight, because once you land at your destination, you're going to hit the ground running.
Maybe I'll leave my cocoon here in India.
Maybe you'll emerge from yours, as well.
15 minute drive to the airport.
Check in at the kio....wait, missing a passport.
Wait for team member to speed home to retrieve precious entry document.
Check in at the kio...wait, it's too late to check in for the flight?
It can't be too late.
God's Grace.
Check in at kiosk.
Arrive at gate.
Short flight to Dulles.
Quick layover. Breakfast. Sprint to next gate.
12 hour plane ride to Dubai.
6 hour layover. Excitement building. Awareness of culture deepening.
Quick lunch.
Sprint to next gate.
How are we sprinting again?
3.5 hour flight to India.
India.
INDIA.
Why India?
Because we were sent.
But the point of this post is to share something that was made very clear to me during our team's travel this week.
When you know where you're going, and why, it makes all that you have to do to prepare, and any obstacles you have to get through to get to, small steps towards the final destination. Everything is put into perspective.
All of our travel stresses paled in comparison when I remembered why I was going through what I was going through. To get to India.
A 12-hour flight wasn't a nuisance, in fact it went by in the blink of an eye. Well, maybe a couple long blinks.
The enemy's attacks were easily recognizable when I realized who I was going to India to please.
When you're doing Kingdom work, you have a Kingdom frame of mind.
So why don't we carry that with us all the time?
I'm extremely guilty of losing my Kingdom frame of mind. A coworker annoys me. A student shows up 30 minutes late because they "ran into traffic" but they're holding a Starbucks cup. (Some mornings I don't know if I'm more upset that they blatantly lie or that they didn't bring me a Caramel Macchiato. Rude.) The errands I "have to" run between work and life. The unexpected. The unwanted. The undesired.
Here's the thing: I'm not sure when we got the idea that when we're doing work for God it won't come without opposition. I also don't know when we separated doing work for God with living our lives. They are one in the same. Our lives as believers should be a reflection of Christ's love and a display of worship to our gracious and merciful Father.
It seems to me that every breath we take should point to the glory of God and every action we perform should be to make His name known.
And let me be the first to tell you, that is something I forget....a lot. Sometimes I forget on purpose, if you really want me to be honest. But if we view these as obstacles that God will see us through to get to the next place He has called us to, well it'll be just like that 12-hour flight.
I read. I slept. I ate. I prayed. I prepared mentally and emotionally so I could be ready for what God will put in front of us while we're meeting His most beloved children halfway across the world from the comfort of my home.
Simply....that should be our "To Do List" every day.
Reading. Resting. Remaining hungry for His word, His presence.
Preparing.
Right before I left, one of my best friends (she actually gets a lot of blog shout-outs, what up SBB!) who prays with and for me often said "this is your butterfly transformation."
Several times in the past few weeks I shared that quotes or pictures of transformation had been placed in front of me and become a common theme. And then when we were walking around in the Dubai airport, I saw the little gem below on the right as yet another confirmation.
I know God is telling me that change is coming, and I don't know what that looks like, but I don't have to in order to be obedient.
I just need to prepare. I may not emerge as a butterfly for another few months, or another few years, or it may happen when I wake up tomorrow.
But the key is that while I'm waiting, I shall do so actively. I shall wait in preparation. I came to India out of obedience. Preparation. I joined the Apprentice team out of obedience. Preparation. I write to reflect. But it prepares me. I speak to share. But it prepares me.
A lot of times preparation looks like the very opposite of what you think it should. Or, at the very least, it looks like the very opposite of what you think you should have to go through. But those experiences and our faithfulness are exactly what God uses to refine us, so that He can use us.
If we want to be used by the Father, we have to be willing to go through the sanctification process.
Don't let the restrictions at the kiosks keep you from checking in.
Don't let your defenses down so you cannot recognize the enemy's attacks when you are tired and hungry.
Rest in God. Be fed by His word.
Enjoy every bit of that flight, because once you land at your destination, you're going to hit the ground running.
Maybe I'll leave my cocoon here in India.
Maybe you'll emerge from yours, as well.
"So all of us who have had that veil removed can see
and reflect the glory of the Lord.
And the Lord -- who is the Spirit
-- makes us more and more like him
as we are changed into his glorious image."
2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)
Beautiful!
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