Sunday, September 22, 2013

Family

One of the hardest parts of this year is leaving friends and family behind, and as that reality started to set in I became a little nervous for the year ahead.   This year has put me further from my friends and family than ever before in my life.  However that sense of family emerges in different ways, as I have learned from working at camps.  YAGM was no exception.
  At Chicago  a group of young adults came together all being sent to different countries, doing different jobs, but with one similar purpose to walk along side the people we would be serving for the next year.  Over the course of a week we grew as a community, and family.  The time we spent together through our small groups, hanging out, and through worshiping together made this community strong.  As we all prepared to depart for our countries my new family began to say “see you later,” and words of encouragement as we headed to the airport at different times headed for different destinations. 
During my in country orientation another family was formed through my country group as we got to know each other on a more personal level.  My group has a great dynamics and over the three weeks we spent together exploring this country we became close helping each other and looking out for one another.  The time we spent together has given us a great support system when we need to reach out for help when we need it. 

Then the time to leave that and move to our placement sites came, and again my family departed for different places.  Now I have a family in Cow Kit in the kids that inspire me to live life to the fullest and enjoy every minute of the day.  So while it is true I have left my family and friends in the states, my family has grown in coming to Malaysia through the YAGM community, the Malaysia country group, and my co workers and children of Yayasan Cow Kit. 

God has called me to go out into the world and serve and has continued to show me in my life that, "Family isn't always blood.  It's the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who your are.  The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what."

I count myself blessed to have my family grow in such a big way.