Out in Service with Audry and Makenzie

 

Day 49:

As our stay here presses forward, thoughts of home and our return start to morph. What used to be a longing for day 89 has now become a feeling of disbelief that it is so close. In the beginning weeks it all felt like vacation with tours and new sites and flavors and sounds- everything new and exciting. As time progressed, it became unsettling to realize that this was more than just fun and games. I remember how overwhelmed we felt knowing that we had to adjust everything; schedules, comfort zones, eating habits, routines- life itself. Now, though, it feels like a new life. It took us half our journey but this is our life.

We don't have crazy and outstanding adventures in Europe each and every day. We don't backpack across the continent, ducking in and out of hostels. Although these things sound fun, we are here to serve Jehovah. We came with a purpose to help. I'm not sure, really, what we expected, but this is what we found. Life. Being here is basically like being home- minus our family, our friends, our jobs, our favorites of miscellaneous things we take for granted, minus the comfortable and the familiar. Being here is putting Jehovah first like we do at home. The only difference is that the challenges we face are different and we are being tested in many new but ultimately faith-strengthening ways. Today was just like any other day. Our life is waking up, getting ready, and heading out the door to serve Jehovah. Just like at home, but here we have been given the opportunity to serve in a congregation that could use more help covering the territory so that as many people as possible can hear about the truth.

Though we didn't get the opportunity to speak with many, we spoke with some today on the streets. We found a few people from a cruise that brought them here from the UK. We had a wonderful conversation with a couple of girls from California on vacation in Europe and I remember thinking about how nice it would be to go somewhere... that's when I realized that Lisbon and serving here overseas has become our life.

It's starting to feel familiar with new friends and new favorite places and a new little family and a new home. 49 days in and we are finally getting the hang of things. Familiar, but still an amazingly new and wonderful blessing of a lifetime.

 

 

Today's Positives:

Spent the day in service with my friends, going to places where we now understand how to find people to speak with

We got to talk to some people and place some magazines today

After service, we went to our favorite café and studied our Watchtowers

We are in Europe, not vacationing, living the best life there is to live