God's goodness

So we got home Friday morning, and now it’s Monday… hopefully that has provided enough time for me to process our amazing trip. I’m thinking my last blog for this trip. Although, we are heading to Chicago tomorrow night for one last interview Wednesday morning, so that may change.

Anyways, it’s been a little weird being back home for a few days, but things have been feeling more like home for me. Between the hour and a half drive Thursday morning to our interview and the entire drive home from Boston, I spent approximately 17 hours behind the wheel Thursday/Friday. About four hours into the drive home, I decided I wanted to see if I could pull of the entire drive home. So I did it. Most of the drive was beautiful. I never really thought this before, but I really like it out east. I love all of the mountains, hills, rivers, and just nature in general that lined the highways. Michigan and Ohio, on the other hand, were going to be the death of me. Those two states are so boring to drive through after coming from the states out east. But I did get to see both the sunset and sunrise in the same drive; that was an awesome thing to see. But yah, needless to say, I was exhausted when we pulled into the church parking lot Friday morning at 7:00. Being our first day back and being so tired, Friday was a weird day. I stayed up until about 11:00am and then crashed until 5:00pm. At that point, the day felt all out of whack. It felt like morning to me, but it was already the evening. I managed to stay up for another five hours before falling back asleep at 10:00pm and then slept all the way until 7:30 the next morning. I went straight from no sleep to a lot of sleep… no better way to throw off your body.

But now that I’m home and settled in, I want to look back on the trip and process a little. I know it will be difficult because I never had words to explain when somebody asks me about the trip. There was simply too much that happened in these three weeks to process all at once. That was the purpose of keeping a journal and this blog, to break things down into smaller pieces to look back on.

It was actually three weeks ago today that we conducted out first interviews. It feels like that was so long ago, but yet it didn’t seem like we were on the road for three weeks at all. Time was such a difficult thing to grasp on the road. Nonetheless, that day was an interesting start for us. God had provided us with the ability to set up equipment for our needs far more than we deserved given our preparation. Aside from the trip coming together and us actually getting on the road in the first place, this was the first big sign that God had big things in store for our journey. Day one, and we had already completed a set-up in a tiny office with our interviewee still sitting at his desk working in one smooth shot. We were impressed. We were humbled.

As the week went on, we continued to witness God work in various other ways. After a few days of working off of very little sleep, the doubts of everything for the trip working out smoothly began to roll in. We wondered how we would ever be able to finish three weeks of the madness we were experiencing, let along six weeks, if our original plans were to come through. But somehow, we woke up each morning with a refreshed breath providing just as much energy as we needed to get through our day, and really nothing more. It was obvious that we had no control at that point. God knew just what we would need to get through each day, and he provided. Provided without failure, I might add.

Aside from energy, he also sparked connections in areas we had never expected. One evening after an already busy day, we had a meeting at a coffee house scheduled just to talk with a local organization in Columbus and discuss possible partnership opportunities. Considering we were on a film tour for interviews, we debated if the meeting was really worth it since we had no idea what we were doing and weren’t going to be filming anything. But again, God provided. That meeting was huge. Art for Abolition is an awesome organization, and they fit in so well with the scope of our work. We really look forward to our future opportunities with them. God definitely showed that if we put ourselves in positions of unknown with the door open for him to work, he will work. Things were getting exciting.

As we moved on from Columbus and began the remaining two weeks of our tour, God really made himself evident yet again. After that first week, we were dead. We worked hard and took virtually no time for ourselves. Planning the trip, we saw some chunks of days where we had nothing planned and were scared about our time not being put to good use. We knew being out on the road not doing anything costs money too. But we hit our first weekend and figured out very quickly why God left those days open. We needed those days. We needed rest. It’s so cool to look at a situation and see God’s understanding and knowledge of what’s happening when we never saw it coming. When we finally got a couple days with a free schedule and a chance to relax, we were ever so grateful. We knew the energy would be necessary to make it through the week ahead of us.

We began our next week and really got to feel love poured on us. We spent three says with Andrew’s cousin, who he had just met for the first time when we arrived to the house. Although Bj and his wife, Alison, knew none of us, they welcomed us into their home and treated us all like family they knew for years. You never really expect how good it feels to live life like family while out on the road for so long. We got to feel like we weren’t actually out on this hectic road trip for a few days. Home cooked meals, comfortable places to sleep, a chance to do laundry, hanging out with the kids… a great time that was never planned into our itinerary. In addition to feeling at home, we had many more experiences of going out and leaving the door open for God to work and surprise us, and getting to watch just that. Again, God provides so well.

As we made our way into our last week, things began to finally set in while many other doors began to open up. Approximately three days before heading home, the magnitude of what we are doing really set in for our team. I cannot even begin to describe again the power of the Spirit moving through that night. If you haven’t yet, I suggest checking out my last blog to hear about that night. And then all of these awesome opportunities with an organization that focuses on demand began to pop up on days’ notices. Honestly, we had not even heard of them entirely just a week before meeting with them. We were given the chance for an interview with an awesome lady that has done amazing things with her life, and we also discussed further possibilities on how Hope for the Voiceless can play a role in the national reduction in demand for purchasing human flesh for one’s own desires. We never saw any of that coming, and we are so thrilled to be in the positions we are in today.

I’ve been mentioning specific events or themes where God has been evidently present in our journey, but that doesn’t do him justice. The entire trip, we could feel the Spirit moving through our lives and overcoming all of the mistakes we made in planning for this trip in order to make this a great experience. God makes this trip an experience that glorifies in fullness in spite of our human mistakes. The entire trip, he demonstrated his love, his mercy, his grace, and his power to open our eyes to the majesty he really is. All too often, I down play all that God can really do through a few passionate people that he created to do his work and bring glory to his name. These past few weeks have reminded me of the perfection that comes with the name of Jesus and all that he can do through us. I am beyond excited to see what else God has in store for my life, the lives of this team, and this journey as a whole. God is good.

peace and love,