And December 3rd is one of those days.
On December third in the year twenty-fifteen, my world was forever changed.
That was our first missions trip team meeting. That was the first time I ever formally met most of these smiling faces:
On that day: 4 complete strangers, 2 co-workers, 1 former boss, and 1 best friend, met for the most "safe" of all meals: spaghetti. Now I'm not much of a math major, but all of those people with random connections, add up to a whole lot of unknown. I mean like going to the basics of where we lived, what we studied, our year, and 3 fun facts. You can imagine this was a little awkward... mostly because you can probably easily imagine me being awkward in a social encounter...
I learned that we had a pilot in the crew, a cat-lover, a rock-studier, a bug-phobic, and a first-time flyer. I could go on, but some things I probably shouldn't have learned so they are best not repeated... Needless to say, we were quite the motley crew. We shared some similar loves, mainly God, and that simple, yet incredible salad that we DEVOURED that night. We had a passion for telling others about God, and this trip would be the outlet for that passion.
December 3rd changed my life because Praise God, my missions trip didn't end then.
Over the next few months I met weekly with these folks. I mean they took up my Saturday nights, so they basically destroyed my already non-existent social life. Actually, on second thought, they definitely gave me a social life.... I came to really look forward to our giggle-filled meetings, knowing I could always find a heart willing to pray, listen, and love.
Anyway pouring out your hearts before God, discussing your game plan (and actually making it too!) and playing team-building games, EVERY WEEK tends to increase group cohesion. Quickly. We practiced telling our stories, sharing the gospel, and applying truths.
I knew their hurts and their hearts, and by the time I dragged my 80 pounds of luggage (no exaggeration. Peanut butter is very heavy, as are my clothes and I needed a lot.) at 3 am on the morning of March 4 I loved these people. I thought I knew all the reasons, but really I didn't know the half of it.
During those 8 days on the Island of Freedom I learned to love them for a million more reasons: for their willingness to adventure, their boldness to lead, their passion to invest, their ability to teach, their desire to connect, their strength to endure, their commitment to care, their loyalty to love...
Wow, sitting here typing I realize even more reasons why I love these people (I'm also smiling like a fool staring at my screen, but that's another issue...). My point is this, last December 3rd those people in the picture were strangers, friends at best (except you Hannah, you were already sorta important to me :P).
This December 3rd they are family.
These are the people that I spent 10 days laughing with, crying with, adventuring with, teaching with, ministering with, playing with (actually I was non-competitive compared to some folks *cough* *cough*) but most of all growing with.
So now I'll address that fleeting thought you had, so you can just kick it out of your mind for once and for all.
Yes, Brian was on my missions trip, but no that is not the reason why I loved my missions trip, he's an added bonus yes, but quite honestly we've talked about it and I'm the best thing that came out of my missions trip.
Okay now pick your jaw up off the ground. I don't mean what you think by that.
I mean that because of the people in that picture, and the God that we serve, the Taylor Elizabeth Hobbs that plopped herself into her Dorm bed at 1 am on March 14 was not the same Taylor that hastily made that same bed on March 3.
I learned how to love even when it wasn't comfortable or natural (I held someone's hand just to have a tangible sign of my love). I learned about God's creation and how He put it together (geology major and Allied Health for the win!). I learned that it's good to be outside of your comfort zone (expectations are not usually reality). I learned what servant leadership looked like (like the thankless task of washing dishes and organizing books). I learned what love with hands and feet looks like, and honestly it didn't look like me.
And that's why I had to change. Being surrounded by these incredible people made me realize just how much growing I needed to do. These broken people had just as many obstacles to service as I did, yet they were doing an absolutely incredible job.
And I wanted to be just like them. I wanted to have an infectious joy. A brave desire for adventure. A caring heart I wasn't ashamed to show. I wanted to love and live and laugh like them.
So I learned.
I grew.
And it all officially started on December 3rd.
I have a feeling this will be an anniversary that I celebrate for a while. The new me will, because it was the day she first began to take shape.
So Happy December 3 everyone.
Happy "Day My Life Was Forever Changed."
Happy "Day I Met Strangers and Made Family."
P.S. I started off this post by listening to our trip theme song "My Story" by Big Daddy Weave and ended on "Oceans" by Hillsong United and I couldn't have planned that if I tried. So thank you God for even curating my music :)
