Being a touring musician is tiring. You drive, set up gear, play a show, tear down gear, load it into the trailer, and hop back in the van to drive somewhere else. Being a missionary is tiring! You go into a group of people to establish a relationship, grow closer to them, tell them your story, listen to theirs, pray, and then move to the next area. Adding both of them together? EXTREMELY tiring. #norest
Especially for an introvert like me. I am outgoing and I love people, don't get me wrong! But when I'm around a lot of people for a long time it starts to wear on me. We've been on the road since mid-January, and now is the time where nearly every team member is enjoying it but starting to feel it. Me especially so because of my fight with sickness since the beginning of March.
And this week has been especially crazy. After we left Harbor City Church in Folsom, CA to head to our AJM headquarters in Modesto, CA, life has been non-stop. First of all, I caught a cold and started off the week sleeping most of the day and missing out on home-church. Even though I wanted to join, I had to remove myself to keep any of them from getting sick. #sickie
As I started getting better, I realized that there were currently 19 people staying in the same house as me, and another 5 people who could show up at any moment. That to an introvert alone is scary. We were graciously given our own room to sleep in, but during the day our room turned into an office where people met to work on tasks. Plus, there were no curtains which made it hard to feel like a private space.
It was a lot of fun being around everyone, but I slowly became more and more tired even though I was getting ten hours of sleep and an hour-long nap in the middle of the day. I almost didn't want to go to group events because I was exhausted, and I wanted to have alone-time with my husband. #ineeddatenight
But, I went anyway. There was a girl's night where nine of us got together at Stephanie's house to eat meats, cheeses, fruits, veggies and cookies. It was fun to catch up with some of the women I'd already met, and get to know a few others! As some of the women started to go home, I began talking with Diana and Stephanie about marriage on the road.
It became a great conversation about finding healing in my past and simply embracing where I am with my husband now. God created our marriage to be healthy and good, and even though I'm battling sickness and it's making it hard for me to connect with my husband at times, things will get better. We will have an amazing marriage as long as we put in the work and learn to grow together. #itllgetbetter
The next night we had a game night where we laughed at drawings and made someone guess what our problem was while we played psychiatrist. It was a crazy night, but all of us had so much fun! Garrett got to play soccer with some of the local kids and pull jokes on us with Jace by running around the outside of the apartment and sounding like a dog at the back door.
And the next day I teamed up with Sam and Kyle to make some dinner for everyone. We were making fried rice, but for some reason the rice brand we bought was cooking completely wrong. In the course of 3 tries, we cooked nearly 10 pounds of dry rice with the same result: gooey on the outside and rock hard on the inside. Finally I caved and bought minute-rice at the store because I'd never had a problem with it. #riceprobs
The house was chaos, and trying to cook for 16 people was a daunting task. But, I prevailed! It was hectic and a lot of work, and I had to bug some people to help with the dishes at first but it ended up great. And after food Garrett and I got to spend some time playing basketball out in the fresh air. Life was good, but I was still getting more and more tired.
Then God provided us with a break. Friday night Garrett and I went on a double-date with Pierce and Diana, another young couple in AJM. They run the Modesto headquarters and Pierce in the VP of AJM. I think all four of us needed that night to decompress and get away from the craziness of the house. #datenight
We went to Jamba Juice and got smoothies before heading to a brewery to have some amazing garlic fries, chicken sandwiches and nachos. And over the course of the evening, Garrett and I got to talk about all the good and the bad we've experienced on tour these last five months. They encouraged us, gave us wisdom and shared their stories as well.
Then we opened it up to Pierce and Diana to share anything they wanted to talk about, because they needed a safe place to decompress too. Over the next hour we heard about all that's been going on in their lives and we gained a new perspective of our dear friends and what they're facing. It brought such compassion to Garrett and I, and a sense of kinship and trust between the four of us.
When the conversation started to lull and the food was all boxed up, we went to play corn hull. Couple versus couple, it was a close set. Garrett and I won the first round 21 to 10, and Pierce and Diana won the second round 22 to 13. We didn't get a tie-breaker due to it being late at night, but we settled for a tie. #cornhull
Even though this last week has been crazy and tiring for me, it's also been great. It's been a lot of time building relationships, hearing stories and telling stories. God has continued to bring reassurance to me that I'm in the right place and that He will sustain me. And though I'm still a little exhausted, my soul is refreshed.