Spending time in Morristown was amazing. I started my time there with a VBS at an apartment complex where we set up stations for bracelet-making, water games, chalk, and even a full-field soccer game! It was so amazing to see all the kids together and having fun, and I was reminded what it means to be in the moment! The only worry that the kids had was whether or not I was going to take the ball from them in soccer! Haha! It seriously was incredible to see that their hearts and minds were just focused on being with their friends and the environment around them, rather than feeling any sort of anxiety about what is to come or how the future could worry them. They simply just wanted to be where their feet were. That’s all that mattered to them.
I think that was the biggest lesson I learned in Morristown. The beauty of being present! As an Intern, we aren’t told exactly what is coming next to build in us this exact idea. Being present. Most people spend their whole lives worried about the future and what is coming next, but that takes away from the energy you could you to invest in the present day. We have even been learning that in our Book of Genesis Bible Studies where we see that God created the world in a week, and just focused on things day-by-day. The way God introduces Himself to the entire world is as someone who works, and accomplishes tasks by using words to build up the environment around Him without grumbling or spending any time worrying about the future.
Even though there is at times a language barrier, an age gap, and even a cultural difference, that didn’t stop the Lord from bringing us together in spirit to appreciate the time we had with each other and the space to just play together. I loved playing soccer specifically because on top of the joy I had of being in the moment with everyone there. Being in a soccer game calls for a lot of focus, you cannot be worried about many outside factors at all, simply just play. For those who don’t know how a soccer player’s mind works, its essentially just like this… “ball rolling, must get ball, must kick ball,”. Haha!
The Sunday that we were in Morristown was spent at church led by Pastor Efrain and Pastora Zenaida. The time of worship was amazing and even though most of the songs were in Spanish, all of our hearts were pointed towards the Lord. We then had a time of fellowship with an afternoon of a banqueting table. Our plates had amazing food and our tables were full of incredible conversations. I see God at work in the people here and the conversations we have about the Lord. It is the most amazing thing to go and spend time in new environments with people who I haven’t met yet but we share the same heart to know the Lord.
I am just so extremely grateful for this trip so far. God is doing a good work in me and I am seeing the joy of having my Biblical Education get put into action. God is so good!