12/23/2017 0 Comments Stress-filled Missions MomentsMany people tend to talk about and focus on the fun and beautiful moments when they discuss their mission trip or when they are preparing for one. By nature, we don't like to talk about the ugly moments in missions. Now I have no experience in long term missions. I have only taken a couple overseas missions trips in my life, but I have traveled quite a bit. In the midst of a broken home where I packed a bag every weekend, to traveling for Girl Scouts and in addition traveling for vacations and volunteering and finally now traveling for missions. There is a certain amount of stress and anxiety that comes with traveling in general, but I feel that stress seems even heavier when it comes to going on a missions trip. You are not just traveling for fun, you are traveling with a purpose.
I have found that right before I go on a missions trip, whether across town or across the world, I get this anxiety that causes even the smallest of things going wrong to set me over the edge-- like I wasn't dangling off the edge in the first place. This anxiety is sometimes not just out of nowhere but because of something I did. I didn't figure my time right or made travel arrangements that would arrive a little later than ideal (I didn't do that this time at all...) but no matter the cause, it is there... lingering and eating away at me. What happens if I don't do everything perfectly right? What happens if I get there and I say something wrong or someone doesn't like me on my team? The truth is that things might go wrong. You might not get along with your team or the people that you are working with. You will probably at some point say the wrong thing. (It would honestly be a miracle if you didn't) And that is okay. Because somehow in the midst of our vast array of imperfections, God uses us to show people His message. We are not always qualified and we are not always perfect for the job. But when God calls us, and we go... He honors our obedience and He promises that He will be there with us through it all. So in the midst of my minor heart attack and toddler-like crying episode tonight when I realized that I would probably need to change my travel plans to Chicago, a combination of my mom's compassion and God's unending reassurance and peace helped me figure everything out and I am coming to a conclusion on other options. That's just my one moment of stress throughout this trip. Yours may look really different. In fact, everyone's stress and situation is usually very different, but our God is always the same. So no matter what "travel stressor" you are experiencing right now, just know that God has most likely placed people in your life that can help you and you can ask God for peace and wisdom in your stressful situation.
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