Four a.m. came early. Real early.
We were all tired and pretty grouchy, so we tried not to talk to each other. It was a pretty quiet morning. A few tears were shed and final goodbyes were said. I can’t explain how much this trip meant to all of us. All of the relationships, the laughter, the tears– all of the things we saw God do through us, around us, and most importantly, in us, are unexplainable. You would have to go to really understand what we experienced.
We loaded all of our luggage up in the van and made our way to the airport.
It was a solemn 45-minute drive. Once it hit us all that we were leaving and didn’t really have the choice not to go, we became ready to leave. All of the stress and exhaustion from the trip finally caught up with us and we were just ready to get on the plane.
None of us were really ready though.
We weren’t ready to go from a place of great need, to a place of great excess. We all had stories and experiences our friends and family back at home wouldn’t really understand. Our lives had all changed while we were in Nicaragua, but everything at home was still the same. Coming back to our lives in America was like trying to stick a piece of a puzzle, which looked like it belonged, into a place where it just didn’t really fit. Things always feel different when you come home after a mission trip– but unfortunately it doesn’t long for things to begin to feel familiar again.
It’s back to work, or back to school, back to everyday life.
After a couple weeks of changing the world and having what feels like an active, important role in God’s will, we are forced to go back home and scrape what little purpose we can find from our ordinary lives. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We have a choice: to live like nothing happened and go on with our lives, or do something. The mission field is not exclusive to a third-world country– or any country for that matter. The mission field has always been, and will always be, right where we are. God has amazing things for us to do everyday wherever we are– all we have to do is seek Him out.
I think the hardest part of going on a mission trip is not the work done in the field, or the living conditions, or even saying goodbye at the end. I think the hardest part of short-term missions is coming home and deciding to live life on mission. Letting every step, every word, every action be directed by God is easy to do when you’re on a mission trip– but it’s how you live when you’re not somewhere else is what really counts.