You know what they say about assuming!

So you'd think, after all the priming Adventures in Missions put us through to NOT have expectations, that we'd be over all that.

It turns out, most expectations are subconscious, and aren't discovered until disappointments reveal them. Go figure. Honestly, I don't think there will ever be a time where we are completely expectation-free. Last week's unfulfilled expectation took me a while to get over...

Since 2006 I have been reading blogs from World Racers all around the globe - blogs filled with all the touching, fun, hilarious, miraculous, and thought provoking moments of their journey. Somehow, without realizing it, an impression formed in my mind that the World Race was filled with moments like these - that every day would be an adventure! What their blogs failed to reveal (or maybe I just missed it...) are all the day-in, day-out living-around-the-world moments...you know, the ones where there's nothing to do, you've finished ministry for the day, and there's suddenly a lot of down time to fill. Because of the rain, this past week was filled with those moments, and I really struggled with it. Boredom is not a feeling I expected to have on the World Race. I also wrestled with thoughts like, "are we really making a difference here?" and, "I could be doing this at home".

In reality, we are making a difference...it just took going through that week to realize it. When we're not building houses - when there's seemingly nothing to do - the opportunity to meet your neighbors and get to know the community suddenly opens up. We've had so many opportunities just walking around town, and stopping at our regular hangouts, to talk to people about what we're doing, and get to know them. So many people we run into remember our names, and are excited to see us and talk with us some more. Our presence in El Nido is touching people!

I love how God works in ways that are not always readily apparent. Though we may never see the full results, I know, through conversations, that God has moved through us in El Nido. He is doing great things in that little community, and I know even greater things are yet to come!