A few days ago, I talked to my friend Katie Cawthon, who did the race several years ago. For the last couple of months, I have felt like I’ve been in some kind of rut, and I wanted to talk it through with someone who might understand where I was coming from.
I sent her a message asking if she had ever struggled with wanting to go home and how to continue pushing forward. She asked a lot of questions about what was going on. Between COVID and quarantining, team changes, role changes, country and time zone changes, holidays away from home, and all of the personal work the Lord is doing in me, I realized I had found myself stuck.
I’ve been very frustrated with feeling like we haven’t been able to do much ministry in the way I was expecting ministry to look like on the race. Quarantining just the few times we’ve had to has made it seem like we’ve taken a back seat to ministry. Sometimes our interaction with people is limited. Sometimes it’s mostly manual labor. Sometimes it’s making ministry happen in ways we didn’t expect. Since arriving in South Africa, I’ve noticed a lot of my frustration with this and all of the change that has happened has effected me more than I would like to admit.
The most interesting part of all of it is the new roles I have been given in this season of the race. While struggling with frustration, change, and God’s purpose with it all, I was asked to accept the role of intercessor/celebration coordinator. As an intercessor, our role is to basically be a prayer warrior. To partner with God in how He is moving and respond. To be intentional about interceding with prayer through thanksgiving and worship. As celebration coordinator, my role is to see and look for opportunities to celebrate the ways in which God is working. To celebrate the little victories and the big ones. To recognize and bring a little more joy and fun to the squad.
After talking to Katie about these roles I had been placed in, she sends me this article that she happened to come across the next day. It’s called “Celebration is a Spiritual Discipline,” and it completely began to change my thoughts on my roles during this season. In the article it quotes, “Joy is a spiritual discipline. We as a people are much more inclined toward negativity and cynicism. We don’t find it easy or natural to pursue joy. And that’s why God in His Word actually command us to celebrate. We come by a Gospel worth celebrating before a celebrating king. We need to get down to the serious business of joy. We must wrestle for our blessing. We must fight for our joy.”
In this season of whatever this “rut” is that I have found myself in, I don’t find it any coincidence that these are the roles I have been placed in. Roles that focus on prayer and thanksgiving and joy in a season where that has seemed so difficult to find. In the last few days, even when it has been hard, I am looking to find little ways to celebrate and ways to be thankful. As we go into a new year and into this new season, I am learning to fight for joy.
First time standing in the Indian Ocean!
God bless you. Hearing from you brings me joy. God will help you and the prayers of all of us who love you will pull you through any uncertainty. Be strong. Do right.
I don’t understand why my remarks were removed.
God bless you and bring you joy!
Joy comes from within, so think of one word each week that brings you joy and look for evidence of that joy during the week in the ministry you are able to do. Love and prayers continue to be with you and your team.
Sweet Caroline,
What a wonderful encouraging and inspiring message. Thank you so much for sharing! I love you so much????
Life is full of ups and downs, but we have God to help and guide us! So thankful for the joy you have and will continue to spread to others! May God continue to give you the courage and strength as you continue this journey! Love you!
So glad to see your smiling face. You are a very strong person and God will see you through this. You bring me so much joy by just hearing from you and seeing your pictures. We miss and love you so much and I know God will give you the strength to carry you on through this journey. ?you. Bebe
Hang in there, Caroline! God will get you through this! You are so inspiring to so many of us! I love reading about your experiences and your journey. Know you have lots of folks praying for you and keeping you in their thoughts! Love you much!! Bengie
“People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Abraham Lincoln also knew happiness (JOY) is a spiritual discipline, something you often must will yourself to do or be. And, yes, sometimes you have to fight for it. You’ve made the decision to fight for joy; now you must find the right weapons for fighting. Lots to choose from and most of them are easily accessible. Time with God’s word, time with godly people who love the Lord as you do, work that will make the lives of others a little better, and learning something new about the world we live in and the people we work with–all available at almost any moment. I can hardly wait to hear about your search for joy and ways to celebrate our blessings. My prayers continue to be with you and will now be more specific. Dear Lord, bring joy to Caroline’s soul today and every day. In Jesus’ name.
Love and miss you. Thanks for keeping us updated.
Hey Caroline,
How I miss being in the trenches with you!! I so get what you are saying. I want to encourage you with Psalm 63:2 and Isaiah 40:10-11.
I’m in deep ministering to my mom these days. My current congregation is the hospital. I see God at work in all the small/ odd jobs…sounds like you’ve been busy with small/ odd jobs too. God meets needs thru small and odd jobs. And when God meets needs he gets a following. God flexes his power in the smallest, most minute tasks of caring just as surely as he moves mountains with earthquakes. When you get to see that, you have seen the goodness of God.
Hang in there!!! One day we will get to have a bowl of soup and share all the stories. I can’t wait! Love you girl!
JOY….Jesus….Others….Yourself. Caroline you are so growing in ways you are not even fully aware. Our Lord is with you and blessing you! I love you very much and am so proud of you. Hang in there and keep up the good work. God bless you and all of the team!
Happy New Year!!!! I wish I had all the wisdom that gave you all the answers, but I can only say you amaze me with your strength and joy. I am enjoying following your trip and also trying to absorb some of the advice you’ve been given by the awesome BUMC ladies!!! See, you are an encouragemnt even when people are trying to encourage you!!! Love you.
Rosanna
My dear sweet Caroline,
Grandbob and I love reading your blogs! They enable us to take this incredible journey with you if only vicariously. I can only imagine your frustrations in this Covid environment that limits your direct ministering to God’s people. Maybe, just maybe you ARE following God’s will for you with the duties as assigned. Jesus Himself showed us the way to be a servant to our fellow beings in many humbling menial tasks. BTW, you would not be human if you did not miss home during this wondrous Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Stay the course, sweet granddaughter of mine! Take on each challenge as you always have! We are so very proud of you. We miss you so much. Grandbob is storing up the ranch dressing for you! We love you! Grandmama ??
I don’t think it was a coincidence Katie came across the article she sent you. Continue in prayer for all things. Wake up and go to sleep in gratitude every day. Rest and trust in Him. I know you will do a great job in your new role. Praying y’all stay free from covid and do not have to quarantine for the remainder of your trip. Stay the course, finish the race and when you get home you will be hands on in helping your sister to finish getting things ready for her wedding.
I love you very much, Caroline!
Words of Wisdom Penny, Covid has been a blessing to so many people giving them opportunity to spend more time in that little room with the door closed.
Hello Caroline, Happy New Year. Your fight is against the principalities in the heavenly realm. They want you to give up and go home. We have the covid here and fight the same battles. Not sure if I mentioned before about me living in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I go home once a year to see family and friends. Landed in Jacksonville Military Base December 17th. Arrived in Statesboro only to stay the night before up and gone the next morning to visit the Standridge family in Lexington, South Carolina where my dad of 89 is in a nursing home. Bad enough that he hardly knows people that we have to wear a mask that complicates the situation even more. Gathering with family was a challenge because of the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Being the oldest and the one that is often referred to as the Spiritual leader of the family was causing me to wish I was back in GTMO, short for Guantanamo, because of the misunderstanding on both sides. Some of the family were not allowed in the house unless they would get tested something they don’t believe in. The reason I share this with you is that we are all dealing with worldly issues, it’s how we handle them that people see something different in us through the joy that surpasses all understanding. The Spiritual Joy cannot be shaken but it takes us loving God with all our heart and feeling His love back. Gratitude for all things in all situations is the ticket to God’s wisdom. Now we are back in GTMO and how things are different than when we left. Only one case since the pandemic started, only to return with many cases. Being vaccinated before, we didn’t have to quarantine far 14 days like the unvaccinated. I flew in and went back to work the next day. This time tested before I arrived January 4, tested after I arrived, all negative, then quarantine until Friday go get tested again come back to my house until Saturday, then if I’m negative again I can go back to living a normal life, lol, except everything is locked down and you have to wear a mask where before I left you didn’t. I know I’m rambling but hoping you find a little humor in all this. but this is how I roll knowing that God is in charge, and all is good. Caroline, stay in His word giving thanks, if His words aren’t causing your Spirit to become welled up inside you, stop and think about what is on your mind at the time, go back and read what you were reading again, discipline yourself and He will bring the reason you went on the trip to come alive in you again. That Joy that surpassing all understanding took over me when I quit working for God and started working with God to allow Him to transform me into His likeness that happens every day that I set with Him in that room behind the closed door. Enjoy reading your words in this season of your life. May God continue to bless you and pour out His love over you. Keep looking up! In His Love
Caroline, as you know our Lord is pleased in all that glorifies Him, the big things and the little things. Sometimes we are conditioned to be shakers and movers, the old saying go big or go home doesn’t leave much room to see the value in what some might believe to be the small stuff. Even a cup of water given in His name has it’s purpose. Be encouraged, in the big picture when it’s all said and done and you’re back home, the year you’ve given to serve your Lord in this way will not soon be forgotten, and He will never forget it, blessings!!
YOU. ARE. A. BLESSING!!! God is using you in so many amazing ways. I love you, and I am
praying for you!
I love that you found an article on celebration being a spiritual discipline. I’ve also had to cultivate that, especially since I grew up in a house that didn’t celebrate any holidays for most of my childhood. Now, I do look for ways to celebrate even small things….it makes life so much more fun! Also, God is a celebratory God – He has 7 holy days (Lev. 23) in 3 seasons of the year!
Just re-read this and earlier this week was hit with 1 Peter (msg) 4 1-2 Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.” – We are challenged to learn to think like Jesus – you were learning to incorporate the fruit of the spirit that is ‘joy’. You were learning to let go of ‘expecting to get your own way’, and you were being set free from the ‘tyranny of what you want.’ I’ve been tyrannized by what I want most of my life…and it made me miserable. Finding joy! So glad that you are learning that!