Choose Joy

Happy late Halloween!
I’m a little late with my October update but there has definitely been a lot going on!

Towards the beginning of the month I was able to do some traveling outside of Edinburgh for the first time which was brilliant! Some friends of mine and I rented a car and headed up north to the highlands. We stayed the night in Fort William and climbed Ben Nevis the next morning. Ben Nevis is the tallest mountain in the United Kingdom. And when I say it’s the tallest mountain, I mean 4,406 ft. Not too high when compared to mountains in Colorado! We made it to the top in about 3 hours, had some lunch in the snow, and then headed back down in the sunshine.

The next day, because we still had the car rented, we drove the cost of Fife and ended up in St. Andrews. We walked around the university, which is absolutely beautiful, and I was also able to see where golf first began. I’m sure that would have been a bit more exciting if I enjoyed golf. But I took pictures for all of you out there who would find that interesting :). Although the trip was just for a short weekend, it was so refreshing to get out of the city and see how beautiful Scotland really is.

A couple weeks ago I also headed down south to London for my first Time for God conference. I am in the TFG+ program which is a more focused mentoring program than the larger TFG program. There were about 8 volunteers there, 5 of which are also part of the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission program. It was so nice to see my friends from America again and it was awesome listening to their stories about their placements so far.

Through out my week in London we talked a lot about vocation and calling. It was good and also got me thinking about some questions: What does it mean to be called by God? How did God call people in the bible? How does God call me? Do I feel called to be where I am?

One quote that I heard over the week described a calling as “where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” I really like that quote but then I realized that even when God called Moses in the bible, he wasn’t too keen on going at first, it definitely was not his deepest gladness. God called him to free the Israelites out of slavery and Moses kept making excuses as to why he was not willing! But he went anyway, God gave him everything that he needed and answers to all of his concerns.

I continue to question why God has called me to this place. As I mentioned in my last post, this is my first time working with addicts and it has been a bit of a rollercoaster finding my purpose at Bethany. And just like Moses, I don’t always feel adequate enough, I don’t always know what to say or what not to say, I don’t always know how to cope with hearing about tragedies and relapses. But God put me here anyway. And I know he is shaping my character and teaching me things while I am here but I need to learn how to listen to him more and figure out what he is telling me.

Some days I feel my calling here is clearer than other days. For example, a couple days ago I went in to work wearing a shirt that said “JOY” on it. Little did I know it would have such an effect on people. Several of the staff and residents told me the shirt was fitting to my personality and thanked me for being able to make them smile and bring joy into the centre. I was caught off guard by there responses but happy to share the spirit in such a simple way. By the end of the day “Joy” had become my nickname.

If everyday was as joyful as that then maybe it wouldn’t be so hard for me to feel like I have a purpose and a specific calling for each day. But I’m learning and trying to listen and seek God just as Elijah does in 1 Kings 19:11-13 and obey just as Moses did.

Hope you are all healthy and well.

Peace and God bless.