Episode 35 - The Six Month Review

Six months doesn’t seem like a long time, but although it might not seem like it at first glance, a lot happens in six months. Since I’ve been in Papua New Guinea; Great Britain has voted to leave EU, the PNG government voted to keep their prime minister, just as the Australian people did with theirs in what was a remarkably close election, whilst in a similarly close election America voted for a new President and the UK got a new Prime Minister although the people didn’t vote at all. Time does not just effect the global political world though, it changes the intimate personal world of each one of us too. Now I might feel very much like Joey Redhead, and indeed I am, I am not the Joey Redhead who inhabited the world 6 months ago. The change is subtle sure, but look hard enough and you’ll find it, and I’m certain the same is true of you. I still over use the words “now” and “sure” in my blogs, I still tell bad jokes, I still can’t play volleyball very well and I still like to point out my flaws, but I’m not exactly the same, not deep inside. A lot happens in six months, both good and bad, and each one of those things leaves its mark on who we are. Many of the things that happen to us we cannot control, but we do, at least in part have some say in who we let those things make us become. Trouble is we don’t always realise it’s happening, or at least I don’t. So as I look back at the amazing things I have been blessed enough to have experienced in the last six months, I realise that it’s a great opportunity to see how I’ve changed, and decide what to keep and what to try to revert back.

 

The New Me... Still Easily Confused

Having to manage a team of staff has made me want to look out more for what people need and how I can help them, not just my team but everyone around me. Being around a group of people who have so openly invited me into their lives has made more accepting of people I don’t know yet. Being with people who put so much effort into just spending time together and keep relationships working has made me more aware of what keeps good relationships going, and made me want to put the effort in. Being in a new culture which thinks very differently to my own has made me appreciate other ways of thinking, accept that in many ways of life there are many ways to do things without any being better than others, and even challenged some of the viewpoints I have inherited without thinking. Seeing the open love that dwells in the hearts of so many people has stirred up the love in my own heart and challenged me to find ways to let it out for people to see. Training other people has shown me that just because I can do something well doesn’t mean that I should necessarily be the one to do it even if I want to. Missing out on exciting plans because of circumstances has taught me to hold my plans lightly and to trust and follow God in all the things I do. I could go on, (and there are some changes I need to reset) but most of all, all that I have experienced and all the people I have met have made be appreciate all that God does for me every day so much more.