Let's Finish My Africa Lessons...

4) I learned to be flexible if things don't go the way I had planned
5) To view my long-distance runs as trials in life, and that giving up because I'm tired or dying from heat stroke is like giving up when life gets tough
6)I learned what it truly means to be a servant and what a servant heart looks like through God's eyes
7) HUMILITY
8) The importance of rest; not just physical rest, but spiritual rest in Christ, especially when my faith is being challenged
9) The importance of withdrawing to be by myself when I've been around people for too long
10) The importance of strong, Christian friends who will hold me accountable, encourage me, and pour into me
11) How to be a spiritual leader
12) How to love people by looking for the good in them and not dwelling on their faults or shortcomings
13) THE POWER OF PRAYER (quick story....) So, we travel to a village one night that is pretty darn deep in the African Bush. After dropping us off, our driver tries to move our bus and we realize that it's stuck in the mud. And, as he continues to spin his wheels, the mud holes get deeper and deeper. We spend 2 hours trying to get the bus out of the muck, using everything from rocks to palm leaves to random pieces of wood. Of course all the people in that village come to help us too. Finally, someone on our team brings up this great idea of praying about it! I mean, let's be serious, what Christian person spending 3 mos in Africa on a mission trip thinks of asking God for help before resorting to anything/anyone else in a tough situation? Ummm, hellllooooo? So, we step aside and pray as a team. No sooner had we gotten the word, "Amen," out of our mouths than our driver revs up the engine and flies right out of the holes we had spent 2 hours try to dig out of with just our hands. I think it's safe to say that God taught us all a very valuable lesson that night!
14) Spiritual warfare is very real and it does exist! I promise!
15) Satan will attack me even more forcefully the closer I get to God; this doesn't mean I'm failing in my faith or my walk with God, but that's what the Enemy wants us to think
16) I learned how refreshing it is to get up early, set aside actual time with God, and not just go through the motions of an obligatory quiet time
17) How to be content with the period of my life I'm in and where God has me for that time
18) To immediately turn to God instead of others when times get tough and I feel like I can't go on
19) TRUST HIM
20) I know I said I had 25 lessons, but as I'm reading over them in my journal, I realize I have duplicated a couple but used different wording. So, this is the last one:
GOD IS MOVING IN MIRACULOUS WAYS IN AFRICA!