We joke that those words are our team motto: “I wasn’t prepared for this”. We speak those words when we prepare to teach a three hour class to English majors, and then show up at the university and have to throw out our plans and wing a 3 hour class about sports to Physical Education majors.
“I wasn’t prepared for this”. Those are the words that are spoken through nervous laughs when we are randomly called on to share a testimony at church or bible study.
“I wasn’t prepared for this”! We laugh and shiver as most of our team continues to play volleyball on the beach with some tourists, despite the sudden downpour.
“I wasn’t prepared for this”, as we eat a fourth meal at 2am after Burmese bible study; not because we are hungry, but because it is offered and it would be rude to say no.
“I wasn’t prepared for this”! We yell over the sound of the pouring rain as we run back from the grocery store with no rain jackets, because it was bright and sunny when we left.
We cry those words as we lay in bed sick with the flu, and we laugh those words each time something new and unexpected shows up.
The truth is, we weren’t prepared for this. But that’s okay. Because God was.
I lay in bed every night and laugh to myself (or sometimes cry) as I think about how much I wasn’t prepared for this. I thought I was before I left home, but what I have come to realize in the past month is that this life is full of surprises. It’s hard. There is no part about this that is easy. There have been many tears, there has been anxiety, there have been panic attacks, and I wish I could tell you that I have stayed strong this whole month, but that would be a lie. It is not by my strength that I am still in this country, thousands of miles away from home, but by the strength of my Savior. He strengthens us day by day, gives us the power that we need to go on. But even when we mess up, even when we fall, he picks us up; because his mercies are new every morning.
I want to thank you guys for all of your encouragement and support this past month, and I hope to encourage you in return. Do the hard thing, guys. It’s scary, but throw yourself into an opportunity where you have to speak those words: “I wasn’t prepared for this”. Because when you step outside of your plans and into the unexpected, that is where your faith is challenged. And I promise that it will be a beautiful adventure.
???????? // {thank you}
Victoria Isabelle
