Small recap of the past week at Big Woods:
1. everyone is getting sick
2. the Bailey Family has lice
3. everyone is sick
4. we have bed bugs
Oh yeah, it's been crazy. Community life has definitely not been a breeze, but somehow (by the grace of God) we are not all going crazy and laughter still fills all of the rooms. When one of the babies started getting a cough, we knew it wouldn't be long till it spread to almost all 40+ of us. Then, the whispering began of one of the 4 Bailey daughters having lice eggs in her hair... of course it spread. Each day another person gets infected with the sore throat, coughing, sneezy, and achy-ness and the smell of the essential oils fills up the rooms.
In the Annex (the place where I live with 3 other girls), 2 of the girls have been complaining of being itchy and jokingly claimed it was bed bugs. Well, I thought they were just being dramatic because I wasn't itchy except for my absurd amounts of mosquito bites on my legs. Since they thought they may be allergic to something in the bed, they got some plastic covers to put on it and then they found it.... bed bugs. So we've been living almost 3 weeks among bed bugs that have bitten us and have comfortably lived in our house among us. This afternoon after our work day we had to take out all of our clothes in trash bags, seal them and put them outside so the sun can suffocate and kill the bugs. All four of us put our clothes outside, took 3 pairs of clothes and put them in the dryer on high heat and showered so we can have clothes until Sunday. Luckily tomorrow morning we are having an exterminator come and fumigate our whole place but now we are all separated living in empty spaces around Big Woods.
After putting all of our clothes in trash bags outside, we left to go to Christ in the City which is like a Young Adult Adoration/Praise and Worship/Fellowship thing. I couldn't help but laugh at all that is going on.
This week I have been in really great communication with Jesus. Like, really good. I've just been straight up and treating him like a friend and a teacher and a brother. I told Jesus that I am happy to be here and to have this wonderful strong two-way relationship with Him. I also said how things have been easy...I haven't really struggled with anything. I like everyone, I haven't been worked too hard, the service days have been really good for my prayer life and have been very helpful in teaching me how to pray with people. Of course, sometimes I get overwhelmed with studying and reading and comprehending all of our reading material...but if that is my biggest struggle - praise God! This has been easy so far, no manual labor to make me sweat, the roomies are so dynamic and fun, the community is crazy beautiful... I have it easy! No complaints. HA soooo, have you ever heard of the saying "be careful what you say/pray for and make sure you are really specific"?
Well, God just thinks He's reaaaal funny. Today I overslept, ran into a lot of inanimate objects, almost broke my ankle, then almost broke my foot, found out we had bed bugs, moved all of my stuff outside, shrunk some of my clothes and then finally I thought about, "What if it rains and all of our clothes are outside?" ...not even a millisecond after this thought, one of my roommates runs in and says, "you will not believe it. it's pouring." Soooo we had to go get our stuff and move it under the back porch of the Big House.
Normally, I probably would be crying because it is all just so overwhelming... but I am laughing. This is insane, but it is a beautiful adventure. I haven't complained once because there is nothing to complain about! God is good, life is good, my family back home is good - so there is no need to worry. God is completely taking care of me and I have absolutely no need to worry. Although my roommates now may thing the bed bug epidemic may be my fault since I told God my life is "easy" hahaha
But really, we should rejoice in the good times and the bad, when we are sick or healthy, when we are infected with lice or bed bugs or when we are..not infected with lice or bed bugs. "I trust in your faithfulness. Grant my heart joy in your help, That I may sing of the Lord, 'How good our God has been to me!'" Psalm 13:6
So with my scrapes and bruises and sore throat and now that I am in a clean bug free bed with a joy filled spirit I can say: "In peace I shall lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me secure." Psalm 4:9
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