Each day is a new opportunity to serve, and even if all I do today is serve ice-cream, I'll at-least do it with joy, because I've been called to serve and to do so wholeheartedly. It's been a long time since I've written and my life is so different than it was the last time I wrote. I'm not ignorant to the fact that social media is a good place to show the highlight reel of your life, without allowing people to see the messiness and the authenticity behind the filtered posts. Since I've been here long enough to redeem my free coffee punch card at the local coffee shop, I figured today was a good day to give you the unfiltered view of my everyday life serving in North Dakota.
If you didn't catch it before, I am no longer in my comfortable bubble of western Pennsylvania. For the past three weeks, I've been living and working in Medora, North Dakota. If you're wondering right now what's even in North Dakota, the answer is pretty much nothing. However, I've been placed in the cutest little town, straight out of an old western film, which neighbors a beautiful piece of scenery, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It's a town about four blocks wide, with three Theodore Roosevelt impersonators, horses that share the streets with cars, and little kids in cowboy boots around every corner. It's the type of place where everyone says good morning to you, even if you haven't met, where you can give hiking recommendations to the people at the table next to you, and they'll offer you their left over pizza. I'm currently sitting with a coffee on my right and a view of the badlands to my left. It's pretty incredible. If you look up photos of TRNP, you'll probably be unimpressed (as I was, when I did), but after you hike Wind Canyon at sunset, you'll realize that God has created beauty that can't be captured on camera. So how'd a girl from Pittsburgh, end up in North Dakota? The truth is that I didn't know this place existed before March 6, 2019 when I got an email offering my a position to serve here. I'm spending my summer serving through a non-profit organization, A Christian Ministry in the National Parks (ACMNP) with two other team members, Jenny Baglia and Alix Mees. We are here to serve and be examples of Christ through relational ministry and putting on Sunday services. But what you might not know by scrolling through social media, is that we are all working full time for the Medora Foundation. I work full time serving ice-cream and although it's not strenuous, it's often tiring. At the end of my first week here, my boss asked me if I was happy working for his business, and the honest answer was that I wasn't. I felt trapped and exhausted. I was frustrated that I had to work long days instead of being able to enjoy the area and park around me. I was exhausted and drained everyday and it made it hard to shine brightly for Christ, which is the reason I'm here. After I assured my boss that I was happy here and was so sorry for being disrespectful, I realized I was looking at it all wrong. Instead of using my job as an excuse for not wanting to read my Bible or shine brightly and with a smile, I decided to look at it as an outlet for serving Him. Each day is a new opportunity to serve, and even if all I do today is serve ice-cream, I'll do it with joy, because I've been called to serve and to do so wholeheartedly. I enjoy my job, not because I enjoy sore wrists and constantly repeating the phrase, "Cone or dish?" but because I absolutely love my coworkers. I've made friends from all over the world who couldn't be more different from me, it's eye opening and really cool to be able to share pieces of my world and to listen as they share pieces of theirs. (I know way more about rodeos and Asia geography than I did a month ago!) I still have so much to learn while I'm here, but each day I'm excited to see what the day holds. I'm learning that God is really cool and that when I spend my my morning with Him, I have more energy and enthusiasm to attack my long work shift. I've learned that services aren't going to plan themselves, so I need to be intentional about making them a priority. I've learned how exciting is to go far out of your comfort zone and to really invest in the people around you. I've learned that coffee makes me happy (okay I already knew that), but that it's fun to be able to bless others by sharing that joy with them. I'm still learning, and I still mess up. I still choose to sleep in before work instead of reading God's word. I get stumped over questions about God that seem like they should be so easy to answer like "What is an offering?" or "Well, what did Jesus die for?" But mainly, I've learned that all the answers are in the scriptures, and that I don't have to have all the answers. So, I'd like to ask you to support me, Jenny, and Alix by praying for us and for those we are working with, because there is power in prayer. From Ephesians 6 pray that I may be able to "Serve wholeheartedly, as if I were serving the Lord, not people." (v.8) and "Pray that whenever I speak, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." If you'd like to know more about ACMNP, life in Medora, our Sunday services, or how you can support us, please feel free to email me at [email protected]!
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"Choose everyday to forgive yourself. You are human, flawed, but most of all worthy of love."
alison malee L i b b y G r a c eAs you read what I've written in journal I want it to feel like we're talking over coffee. I encourage you to send me a note, so we can continue the conversation.
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