Today was the first day of our annual youth mission trip. Being the first day, we drove a lot, got settled at our host church, and got oriented on the plan for the rest of the week. In doing these things, I was reminded about two essential qualities of an enjoyable mission trip: be flexible, and have a positive attitude.
Our mission trip started earlier than I expected. We were supposed to meet at the church at 4 pm, but because of some confusion, a few of the youth got to the church at 9 am. This was a great opportunity to practice being flexible with a positive attitude.
I invited the early birds over to my house, and invited them to start their mission trip early with a bit of cleaning. They did great! It also gave me an opportunity to connect with them a bit more and show them a goofy side of me they wouldn’t have seen otherwise. So it turned out to be a good thing.
Flexibility with a positive attitude.
When it came time to leave, I texted the mission trip leader to double check the address of the church I was meeting them at, and I’m glad I did! We would be staying at a different church than I thought, and it completely changed the route I would take to get there. But it all worked out because there was far less traffic than we would have had going the planned route.
Flexibility with a positive attitude.
As essential as these qualities are, they don’t tell the whole story. While we can strive for these qualities in themselves, they are best practiced as aspects of contentment in Jesus Christ.
It’s easy to put on a happy face for a little while, but a sheer act of the will can’t make us happy on the inside. But Jesus changes that. By dying on the cross, Jesus made it possible for us to have peace with God and an inner joy and peace.
It says in Psalm 16:11, “In his presence is fullness of joy.”
Pray that we experience that kind of joy that week, and that we can share that kind of joy with others.