Skip to main content

A lovely evening and cold day full of peace.

Last night at Hope City I felt so loved and like I really am part of a family here...which I am leaving shortly. Anyways, I got prayed for and I got hugs and kind words from people. It was a good choice to head down there. I love the loving presence of God at Hope City and I love how the people there love so well! What a privilege to have been a part of it! And it’s funny how sometimes when you get out of your own little “world” and get things into perspective, the mountains and things that overwhelm you don’t seem so overwhelming anymore. I was thinking yesterday about Hebrews 12 and how it talks about “laying aside every weight and fixing our eyes on Jesus”. Moving is a weight and I don’t want to be weighed down, but want to let Him carry the burden and choose to fix my eyes on Jesus.

This morning I got up kind of bright and quite early. I headed out and took the licence plates off my Golden Chariot (car) because it’s getting sold today. Mid-way through unscrewing the plates I realized it’s actually quite cold out today as my hands were starting to hurt from the freezing wind. The weather was really mild yesterday so this was a bit of a shock.

Mid-day the guy from the junk yard came and got the car. It was a quick transaction, which was good coz it was still freezing outside. Yet another thing ticked off my list...a to-do list which will only be done when I leave (and then I can start another one for when I get home). I popped to the prayer room a couple of times today which was a nice break from sorting and packing and getting ready to move. It’s quite funny. Here I am, car-less again, temperature well below freezing (this evening the wind chill was -19 Celsius), and end up walking back and forth to the prayer room multiple times.

Feeling less weighed down. Anticipating the arrival of my departure day, and don’t quite know what to do with myself. Life goes on. It always continues, even when life won’t continue here for me, it still continues for other people. The whole dynamic of final days is strange. The dynamic where you end up saying goodbye several times to the same people because you keep seeing them and don’t want to not say goodbye, and then there’s the people you don’t see and end up leave without really saying goodbye to. And then there’s the whole being a part, yet not anymore and how that all fits.

It guess the key in the midst of everything is still “fix your eyes on Jesus”.

It’s been a cold, but good day. Tomorrow is my last day here. Apparently it’s going to be even colder (I’m hoping the Missouri “if you don’t like the weather, just wait and hour and it’ll change” will kick in with warmer weather soon), but I intend to make it a good day even so.

Popular posts from this blog

Small moments that mean a lot

Walking home on the crunchy snow that lights up a December evening,  I felt so thankful. The revelation that fellowship and being together is the best gift you can give someone, and realising that although it might seem small, it can turn into something big when a person feels seen and valued.  Yesterday I helped out with a crafts workshop for a group of lovely women volunteering for Crux where I worked before (well, in all honesty: they were making angels while I ate Christmas cookies, Quality Street chocolate, and chatted). I love walking alongside people in conversation, and realise sharing life for 2 hours can last so much longer in value and experience.  This evening we had our Christmas dinner for volunteers and people who are part of my current job. It was a delightful evening with many nations gathered around the same table…. eating the same food… and for a few hours creating a small fellowship moment that will become a good memory for the future. Often in my job ...

Taking in the familiar and a heart connected.

Amsterdam. It still has that muggy feeling in Summer, and a constant flow of people which if you stop to think about it, it's quite amazing that there would even be space to accommodate them all. But then I guess they are not all staying. Just passing through on their way to or from somewhere. It's always good for the heart to visit somewhere that was once home. The familiarity of streets and customs makes it easier to embrace what might be new as well as the joy of being reacquainted with old friends. Friends. So many of them to be found in this city, ready with hugs and good words that are uttered when seeing someone who was away again. Friendship. A treasure that cannot be bought. Cobblestones trodden by many, including myself. Sitting on a bench. Praying. Remembering the first time I stumbled upon this area lined with windows with red lights and curtains. An area which has come to represent no longer windows, but people to me. Some still behind a window. Others who have ...

So what is new in Kansas City?

“Not much”, I think is the answer. Although, that’s not quite correct, I’ve had quite an adventurous weekend (in the mildest sense of the word). Let me see, where do I start? Well, Thursday when I last wrote was really good. I got to join with a team for a bit in the evening, which was really good fun and it lifted my spirits as I am totally a team person! The whole week had been quite tense because of adjustments with our household and people coming and going. On Saturday two of the girls I shared with were moving out and since Friday night they were packing, my other housemate and I went shopping. We figured it was easier to not get caught up in the chaos that packing to move houses is. It was fun to go shopping, even if we only went to Wall-Mart and HyVee (big grocery and other thing shops). We got a few bits and pieces for the house to make it more homely and generally just had fun looking at all the stuff they have. We’d decided that when the other girls had moved we’d do a big cl...