Uganda 2018: Preparation
Preparation is an action or process of making something (or someone) ready for use or service or of getting ready for some occasion, test or duty.
Perhaps the biggest thing in my life I prepare for is in refereeing a basketball or a lacrosse game. It means looking the part—staying in good shape and making sure my uniform looks good. It’s watching film for who knows how many hours in order to work on things I struggle with. It’s perhaps watching film of a team I’m about ready to see for the first time and checking the box scores to see how teams have done as of late: Do they need a win since they’ve been struggling? Are they hot and might get upset by a team who’s up-and-coming in the conference? It’s going through the rule book and making sure I can adjudicate fouls and violations on the floor with a split-second decision.
Chances are if you’ve met me, I’ve talked to you about refereeing as it consumes a large part of my life. I often am challenged by sweet friends, many who go to City Church, who help me work through the battle over my heart with over-preparedness in this part-time profession of mine.
And yet my passion and zeal for preparing to referee usually does not transfer over to my preparedness for taking on my day and really any given moment for that matter. I struggle getting up in the morning and coast through my 30 minutes of getting ready and eat breakfast in my car on the way to work. I might bring my devotional with me and maybe slip it in at some point during my morning. Really, most of the time God is an afterthought as I start off my day, and thus affecting the rest of the day that follows.
In reflecting on my time leading up to Uganda, one word that kept on circling back around in my head was preparation; I’ve felt more and more ready with each time we’ve connected with one another as a team over the last few months and am anxiously awaiting our flight to take off on June 30th.
I’ve been on several missions trips over the last 10-plus years and coasted into each one similar to my day-to-day life. There really weren’t many meetings or team bonding opportunities to give us momentum heading into the trips like we’ve experienced together for Uganda with this team. To be honest, we just went, which is similar to how I just go throughout my day and looking back at the end of it and asking, “Where did my day go?”
I know Uganda will be a blur, and I’m sure I’ll ask myself the same question of “Where did my time in Uganda go?” but I hope I’ll be able to sit in the moments sprinkled throughout my days in Fort Portal and see God’s creation all around me—His treasured people in the beautiful country of Uganda —and realize he’s always with us and working in all of it; to be expectant He will move and asking Him for the eyes to see those moments I am normally blind to.
Maybe I’ll slow down some to prepare for my days once I return stateside, and maybe I won’t. But I’m praying God continues to work in my heart to be more ever aware of Him working in everything and not just in the big things I feel like He should be in. He's all around us and is with us every step of the way, no matter if we're at our jobs in the United States or traveling half way across the world to encourage Jenna with her ministry.
We’ll be reading through Psalms 120-134 as well as Philippians while we’re in Uganda, and we encourage you to read alongside us as I’m sure He'll speak through each of us (and hopefully you as well!) those sweet moments and many more will be shared in the upcoming blogs our team posts over the next several weeks.
City Church has influenced each one of our faith walks and little pieces of all of you will be traveling with us. We thank you for surrounding us with prayers and look forward to telling you about this amazing kingdom God is developing in Uganda.
We pray boldly our hearts and the hearts of those we cross paths with be planted in fertile soil which will give God the space to do what only He can do.
On June 30th, Katie, Jamie Mock, Dorsey Clarke, and Jake Evans) will travel to Uganda visit and serve alongside Jenna Murphy (a City Church member and missionary) in her work with the women of Green Leaf Craft Studio ministry and the youth in her neighborhood in Fort Portal. We hope you’ll consider supporting the team financially and through prayer. If you would like to offer financial support for the team’s effort to raise $3,150 per person, contributions can be made by visiting citychurchrva.com/giving.