Speed 2.0

            Three nights a week my church offers a ladies fitness class in the Sunday School room. We do a 25-minute workout video, chat about life and get very, very sweaty. There is a level of sweat here, working out in almost 100% humidity, that is out of this world. I thought I’d known sweat before coming to the FSM, but trust me, sweating here is on a whole other level. One of our hardest workouts is called Speed 2.0, 25-minutes of constant jumping, hopping, lunging, and moving. Your feet move fast and don’t stop until it’s over.

            My summer has felt exactly like that workout. I’ve sped from one responsibility to the next, one visitor to the next, one activity to the next. Teaching summer school, organizing and cleaning the apartment, saying good-bye to Meredith, Kristin, and Brittany, showing off Pohnpei via hikes and host family visits, playing tour guide, tutoring a Korean family in English, planning in country orientation for my two new volunteers, and welcoming many JV visitors from Chuuk. They’ve all been good responsibilities, things I have done happily and gratefully, things that have nourished me in ways I didn’t know I needed. But I’ve had my fair share of emotional and overwhelmed moments, too. You probably know the feeling. So much to do, too little time. And then, out of nowhere, those magic moments happen, like the other night when Annie and I were having dinner. When you sit with a friend and you talk about the things that have changed you this year, the things that have hurt you and the things that have healed you. It is those quiet moments that ground me. They remind me that God is doing a good work in me and in my service here, even when I can’t see it or feel it or believe it.