I’m home. Wow, that’s still so crazy to say but it’s almost been 2 weeks already! Truthfully, it’s been a really great 2 weeks. I was ready to be home, and I’m grateful to have such a warm and loving home/family to come home to. Home sweet Indiana has been my mantra hahhaa.
In an effort to somehow wrap things up for you all, I attempted to put down some final thoughts about the year in all. This was a helpful way for me to reflect as well. So here’s a short recap of lessons learned and overall themes of each specific country!
Costa Rica – The word I think of when I think Costa Rica is uproot. Costa Rica was just the beginning. There was a sweetness and a tenderness to that season. We all knew we were sitting on the edge of a long journey ahead and it’s fun to look back in hindsight and smile at the innocence of that. During that season we all had just uprooted from our normals and stepped into something really wild and new with a bunch of basically strangers. We spent a lot of time sharing our hearts and our stories. We had a lot of time to journal and sit in silence with the Lord and ask Him what He wanted to do in us. We all cracked open the good things, the hard things, the unspoken things, the questions/doubts, and the roots of our stories to eachother that month. We were uprooting and digging up a lot. It felt like a heavy month in a lot of ways. But not bad. Just necessary for the refinement process to begin.
Guatemala – When I think of Guate I think freedom and questions. It was during this long 10 week period in Guatemala where I started to see the fruit of fighting for my mind. I was on the tail end of struggling with a lot of heavy anxiety based issues when I walked into the race, and it was in Guatemala where I learned a lot about how to fight effectively with the Lord for my mind. The Lord revealed SO much to me during those 10 weeks and showed up big time. I walked into some deep freedom during my time there, which is interesting because I simultaneously was also wrestling through a lot of doubt. I’ve never really considered the irony of that before, but how crazy is it that as The Lord was breaking my chains I was questioning His existence. Man, the Lord is so full of grace. But anyways, this was a month where I began to really consider what it meant to make my faith my own.
Honduras – When I think of Honduras, I think of people. Up to that point, I felt as if a lot of what I was dealing with was pretty internal. This was the month where people were added to the mix because we did our first all squad month. So – I learned a lot but it felt different because the majority of what I was learning was based on relationships. It was a season where I learned a lot about myself and a lot about using my voice, about having hard conversations, about believing in myself while extending grace to others. I was forced to look inward at who I believe I am in the eyes of the Father because I was coming to grips with the reality that striving after the affection of others will never completely satisfy. I think this season was the start of a lot of growth in my identity of what I knew to be true of myself aside from others. Learning my worth and my place in the middle of a group of 44 – it’s trickyyyy! It’s when I felt like I began to understand the concept of grace better. When I had to learn how to extend it and how to rely on the Father to give me the strength and energy to do that. I learned how to navigate emotions better and how to walk in steadfastness with the Lord when I really didn’t know how to. The Lord walked me through a lot that month and I’m more than grateful for it.
Romania – Hot. That’s what I think of when I think of Romania. hahahah. No but really, Romania was a sweet continuation of all the things I was learning in Honduras. But, I was walking with a lot more confidence in all that. I was still learning more about my worth on the squad, but I was more confident in myself and I was beginning to see the fruit of what walking in your worth can look like. I was still learning how to extend a lot of grace but it was sweet. I was pushed physically to learn how to manage physical discomfort, pushed within ministry as it was a lot of street evangelism (which was harder for me), and I was pushed relationally within community as it was another all squad month. It was a tough month in some ways but definitely a fruitful month.
Albania – Dang Albania. I loved Albania and when I think of it I think healthy. I felt so emotionally, physically, & mentally healthy. We finally had gotten out of the all squad stuff and I was alone with my team. That felt like a breath of fresh air hahahaha. It was a sweet season where I loved the weather, the city, the people, the ministry, and more. I loved Albania and I will always claim Tirana as one of my favorite places. I had set a lot of healthy boundaries up for myself that month as well. I was off social media, I was awake every single morning with the Lord making sure to get my mind in the right place. I drank a lottttt of coffee and we had AC in our bedrooms meaning I slept GOOOOOD. Tirana was refreshing.
South Africa/Lesotho – I think of the word endurance. It was a season where I was ready to go home but I had to press into more. It was hard in a new way of learning how to walk in the tension of being ready to leave but also staying present. Hard, but okay. And good. And there was a lot that came out of my time in Africa that I’ll always remember. The Lord used that season to really just saturate me in the truth of everything He’s taught me. I think He actually was using that season to really prepare me for coming back home. Some struggles were brought back up during that time and the Lord so gracefully reminded me of the freedom I’ve found and reminded me how to fight for myself. Something that I needed to be reminded of before returning home. He was saturating my soul with his goodness and with His promises and it was cool.
There ya go. There’s my year in 6 short paragraphs. I can’t thank everyone enough for following along and being excited and prayerful and supportive throughout all this. I truly have felt everyone’s prayers throughout the year and I couldn’t be more grateful. I hope that the Lord has used what He’s done in me to encourage you in some way – big or small.
Here’s to the last 11 months! And now, Merry Christmas everyone 🙂
SO much love for you all,
Heather
Welcome home beautiful lady! So grateful for this amazing, life-changing trip of a life-time, adventure with God!