“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you” Matthew 6:33
Seek first the Kingdom of God. What does it look like to live in a kingdom mindset? For me, it has been reminding myself to choose life, to choose to look at Jesus in the midst of stress and uncertainty. Kingdom is not normal, kingdom does not make much sense to the world’s standards. If I want to live in Kingdom, for the Kingdom, I need to be okay with things not making sense and not being normal.
To be honest, I frequently forgot about Covid during our time in Wisconsin. In the small town of Wisconsin Dells, cases were low, most people seemed unconcerned and healthy, and very few people wore masks, or even enforced mask-wearing for that matter. I still saw the virus as a minor inconvenience, rather than how many experience the pandemic: life-altering, life-threatening, life-debilitating.
It was a beautiful month, well 6 weeks, in many ways. I grew closer with my squad (our big group), with my team, I loved the ministry and all the people we got to work with. We sold hot chocolate under a giant lit up Christmas tree, we fed about 400 families a week during the holiday season, and we received amazing training in discovering our gifts, strengths and digging deeper into our personalities.
It was a hard month in a lot of ways too. I was frequently disappointed as I understood expectations I had that will not be met here. It was hard being away from my family, from my home state and friends during the holidays for the first time. I was chosen to be the new team leader for this incredible team I am on, but the transition into leadership has been tiring and humbling and sometimes heartbreaking.
My group is traveling to Guatemala this week, Lord willing! We are staying in a beautiful hostel in the tourist-y city of Antigua. It is surrounded by six volcanos, has some incredible sights to see and, from the pictures, you can literally see the milky way at night the stars are so bright! Oh and of course, the temperature gets into the 70s.
The morning we left Wisconsin, we were all so excited to get out of the snow. We would be one step closer to going to Guatemala. We were all packed and ready for our day of traveling. That morning, one of our squad members received their positive Covid results. With little time for decision-making our leaders prayerfully altered our day’s plans. One team had to stay behind and quarantine while the other two teams left to the airport without them.
We eventually arrived back to the Adventures in Missions headquarters in Georgia and were met by many new Covid restrictions. We are wearing masks at all times besides sleeping, each team (which is a group of 5) must be distanced from the other and our leadership team. I am thankful for the safety measures everyone is taking to keep us safe.
Praise God no one was sick while we were working with our ministry partners.
Thank God that the rest of us are feeling healthy.
Praise God He designed for stress and pain to bring us closer to Himself.
Praise God that He is faithful in seeing us, being with us, and guiding us with wisdom.
These are not normal times, but the Kingdom of God is not normal. In the midst of discomfort, disappointments, and confusion I get to live in the Kingdom of God. Here, nothing can separate me from God’s love, He sees me and knows me, He fights for me and listens to my prayers. Here in the Kingdom I get to live life with Jesus. What a good life.
Lauren I am sooooo amazed by your continual love, vulnerability and wisdom! Sooo excited to see how God continues to guide you each day, as He lights up each step for your journey! Praying for you! Miss you!!!
I miss you friend! I still know I wouldn’t be here without your love and support
Dear Lauren,
I am so proud of you and your team. I admire your commitment to each other and to the mission at hand. It may seem as if your outreach is currently on hold, but God is working all things together for our good. Not every obstacle is by His design, but every solution definitely is.
May this be time of peace, surrender and an opportunity to abide in His presence. Going forward, I believe the Oakies will be stronger than ever before. Much love to you.