Yes, We Are Counting - by Lisa

Ok, so we are counting. And in case you didn’t know, we have been counting the days for quite some time now. Unbelievably, tomorrow we leave for Pittsburgh, and in 48 hours, we will be on our way. There are just so many last minute things that creep up on you when you are trying to prepare physically and emotionally for what lay ahead: from last minute donations, to blown out zippers on a suitcase, to this wonderful batch of hives that I tend to get when I am stressing out about things. (But that’s its own blog entry for another day). I guess that is all good preparation for mission work, because you have to be so flexible, and willing to change plans at the last minute in Guatemala. Our mission leader has this “thing” that he says. He will say, “Here is the plan…” and then when the plan changes, he says, “”Here’s the update.” Last summer, we had so many “updates” in regards to our VBS, our team stressed out as soon as we heard “Here’s the….” So we decided to change our way of dealing with the curve balls that we were being thrown. I would tell my group, “Here’s the scoop.” Then they would ask, “What flavors?” And depending on the news/change of plans, I would tell them either ”chocolate” if it was good news, or “pistachio” if it was not-so-good news. Now, for all of you pistachio fans, I do not want to imply that pistachio ice cream is bad. It just didn’t rank above chocolate. Doesn’t sound like a huge difference, but it was a way to make us each laugh, and take each day, or each hour, one step at a time. As Americans, we are very much a “here and now” culture. We want everything now, high-speed, no waiting time, because we are continually multi-tasking in our daily lives. How refreshing it is to go to a place, where uni-tasking is common practice, and you operate on someone else’s timetable: God’s. We will accomplish what He wants us to accomplish, and with hard work, a great team, and His hand, it will be amazing.