I had most of a post written last night, but the website was low key glitching, and I went to bed instead of sorting it out. Then I had a lovely three hour conversation with one of my favourite human beings this morning before she went to bed in America so I restarted writing this week’s reflection. It’s been hard to sort time zones, and I’m still sorting out routines, and I’ve almost missed a couple of connection points with people on other continents because of the daylight savings confusion.
One of the things I said to Maggie as we were wrapping up our call was inviting her to walk in the chacos of peace. That’s a line she’s familiar with as I spent three years praying for a specific chaco-wearer to step into peace and obey the Holy Spirit, but today we talked about how God invites all of us into peace. It’s a good gift available to people with open hands to receive it.
Sometimes Maggie and I both struggle to receive good gifts – almost as if we don’t believe God is good enough to actually give us good things. That’s something we’ve spent years unlearning and haven’t fully grasped yet. Peace is one of those good things. Openhandedly, I’m stepping into peace despite still not being able to walk independently.
Speaking of walking, I’m still not doing that much. Unfortunately, I’ve had blisters to keep an eye on while managing the rest of my life, so the standing and walking has taken a back seat during this transition. I’m still praying and hoping for progress, and I’ll ask you to keep joining me in this request. It’d be nice to have a crazy cool update to share of something new or a story of transformation, but the truth is this week was one that just had the ordinary life with some positive encouragement that I’m making an eternal difference despite not always being able to see it. One of my supporters texted me that encouragement in the week – then Maggie reminded me that she consistently uses me as an example of a positive influence in her life. I’m grateful for those moments as I still make minor mistakes and learn the details of my new role here.
I love, love, love what I get to do – and I know that this is where God’s called me. But I also know that it takes time to settle in fully. I laughed with one of my friends here who asked me on Tuesday night how I’m settling in. He’s an adult TCK, so I told him it’s not the same as working with TCKs who go deep fast, and he completely understood. I am able to celebrate positive interactions and moments where I am finding connection with people here. As I continue to journey, I know that it’s a one day at a time, one step into peace at a time, kind of thing. This whole adventure following Jesus to New Zealand is so worth it, and I wouldn’t trade any choice that’s brought me to where I am so far, so I’ll make an effort to step into peace today – putting on my metaphorical chacos and praying for God to show up in new ways.
