Monday, July 11, 2011

Wonder, Ponder, Contemplate . . .

It's now 11:52 and after lying in bed for an hour and being unable to sleep i decided to get up for a bit. I cannot seem to turn my mind off tonight unfortunately. So i decided to blog. So here goes. Tonight my mom and I watched Eat, Pray, Love which by the way is a great movie. Her mind never seems to shut off, and i love that she decides to travel and live in other places. I would love to be able to travel and be in another country right now. If my scholarships would still be here when i got back, i would have taken a year off and been on a ship traveling around doing missions with Operation Mobilization.  Operation Mobilization is a missions organization that has various boats (well more like ships) that travel around the world. One can serve if accepted after the long process for a year or two while it sails around docking in different locations for a time serving in whatever capacity needed. I served in Holland the summer of my sophomore year in high school with four girls from OM while they were preparing the Logos Hope for sail. Sidorela being from Albania, Lena from Germany, Christine from Taiwan, and Norma from Mexico all had been accepted and would serve on the Logos Hope for a year; however, the ship (the Logos Hope) was not ready for sail so they joined us in Holland. Shortly after the trip the ship was ready and they set sail. I guess you could say i have a yin to travel. Ever since the trip to Holland my sophomore year I have loved traveling and other cultures. I was blessed to go to Haiti the following year on a mission trip as well. Haiti and Holland along with other cultures and countries fascinate me. It amazes me how other people live and their traditions. One is no more right than the other but rather they are all unique in their own way. Yet we all serve the same God. No matter what country you are in, what you eat, or how you dress God is the same. I remember being in Holland and Haiti on Sunday morning with the whole church singing praise to the King in their own tongue. Sometimes when i'm at church while everyone is singing i close my eyes and i can hear people singing in dutch and creole praises to God. We truly are such a small dot on a huge earth yet God moves in our lives and uses us. It amazes me how he loves us and uses us in ways we cannot even imagine. But i digress, so instead of being on a ship abroad right now i am in college studying to be a math teacher (which i love) and in a time of preparation. I don't know where i will teach once i have my bachelors and am working on my masters, but i feel called to full time missions and pray that God will have me teaching in another country in his timing. But who knows what God has in his plans. I could be teaching in a small school around here for the rest of my life. Whatever God has planned i know other countries and cultures will always hold a special place in my heart. All this thought from watching Eat, Pray, Love.

Unfortunately i often get stuck in a world of thought and cannot shut my brain off. However, i guess that is just how i deal with things. I often wonder about things. For example, as i was driving home saturday from Missouri i travel through this little city called Cairo, Illinois. Cairo has been ever since i remember a  "bad area" to travel through because it is known as "rough". It does not have many stores or much life to it as a city. The buildings and houses are run down and it has a more violent reputation. However, there are still people that live there and i often wonder what their stories are. What caused the area to become depleted and in the state it is in today? How is God working in the community and its people? It makes me think of Chattanooga Tennessee because it had become rundown and a rough area until the aquarium was built which brought industry back into the area, and as we can all see it is now thriving. But what would it take for Cairo to be built back up because it is a beautiful historic city? Or will it remain this way? I wonder how many people just travel through and how many have stopped to talk to the people and help them. Too often we look at the outward situation and immediately put a label or react in a certain way. Whether because it "is not safe" or it makes us step out of our own box i dont know, but we forget that they are still people with the same needs and desires. There is no difference between us when it comes down to it. We are all people created by God in his image to glorify him. The only thing that separates us is lost and found. We are all His sheep and we are to minister and love all people. So as i drive through Cairo Illinois each time i go to Missouri i wonder about the people there and how God is writing their stories. Maybe that's enough thinking for tonight and i will now be able to go to sleep. Oh well it's worth a try.

A little church in Cairo

Another church on the main drag in Cairo

And yet another church in Cairo
All three were within walking distance of the others

A typical house in Cairo

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