Remember my first blog, when I said my Word for this season was humility?
Well, last week my class broke up into 3 teams to do ministry in Georgia from the 3rd to the 7th. We had to plan where we were going and what we would do for ministry with a certain amount of hours expected.
And God taught me about humility that week.
My team stayed in Atlanta at the Emory campus Bread coffeehouse, a sweet college campus ministry with multiple locations that focuses on hospitality and meeting people where they’re at with love and service. The first thing I noticed was how they took hospitality to another level in every way. They offer free coffee every day to the students, housing for students in need, and free dinners twice a week too! Their door was always open, and although they said Jesus was their motivation, you wouldn’t hear talk of Him nearly as much as you would hear the students’ own stories and beliefs.
Lesson #1 do more listening than talking, especially as you’re meeting people for the first time.
After the first day and a half of washing dishes and cleaning the house in a million different ways and not talking to the students, (they were always studying!) I realized my expectations for the week were not being met at all and this was leaving me dissatisfied with my own work.
Was I doing enough? Was I even making a difference for the people’s lives here? Was I doing too much?(with a required amount of hours of ministry but cleaning being so freelance, I cleaned every possible moment not wanting to sit around or take a break and not fulfil our expectations!)
Soon after these thoughts were swarming in my brain I talked with a couple of my teammates about it and I drew a few conclusions: “We’re not talking about God at all! The staff here doesn’t talk about God at all; it’s as if they’re omitting Him from their conversations with the students for “hospitality’s sake”! Not long after I came to those conclusions the Lord HIT ME IN THE FACE WITH THIS REVELATION: I’ve mostly, and I mean like 95%, only ever talked about God and I’ve rarely let my actions alone be His testimony for my life. He reminded me of how good the Pharisees were at talking about God to others and how their hearts were hard and cold towards other people and their pride was a stumbling block to seeing Jesus for Who He is, the SERVANT of the Father. He came to serve, not to be served. My pride and insecurity have kept me from serving others out of love and letting God be in charge of His getting the glory! :,(
*Lesson #2 do more walking than talking
WOW. Being humbled hurts, right in the ego, but I’m so happy I learned this!!! Every time I consider the weight of humility, the Lord reminds me that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. I won’t let shame or condemnation for how I had thought, felt, and lived for so long weigh me down! I’ve learned a huge lesson about the Kingdom and my work in it and that’s so valuable and it really is beautiful and exciting, honestly, to begin changing.
And yes, our team and the staff had a feedback and debrief of the week on Thursday night and I shared my story of humility with them. They were moved and also shared more uplifting insight with me about our week there and it was actually the most beautiful way to end the experience!!!
The road to redemption of heart and mind is long and bumpy but I love it and wouldn’t give it up for anything!!! I hope you all can learn something from me and that the Lord reveals some blind spots for you too!! It’s so much better to learn and watch as He changes your heart and mind to better things.
Lots of love and blessings this Christmas season!!!!
