Just Be

by Amanda Cooksey, EM Summer Staff on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico

This past week I was hanging out at Pastor Harry's house with his wife Blanche and her many grandchildren. I have spent a lot of time with these children the past few weeks and know them all pretty well and l love them a great deal. Harry and Blanche certainly have their hands full because they are a goofy, loud, caring group of kids.

While Blanche was cooking dinner I was sitting on the couch with Kellen (the one on my back in the photo) when all of a sudden he goes "Grandma Blanche I like being with Manda." This was such a short and simple statement, but has affected me powerfully over the last few weeks. He didn't say he liked playing with me, or hanging out, or talking to me, he simply liked being in my presence. What a beautiful testament to how we should live life. My time on the Navajo Reservation has truly taught me how to simply enjoy the presence of other people and what it looks like to stop and just be with the Lord.

I know that far too often we rush conversations because we have somewhere else to be or we grow impatient when something takes too long or we get bored when we aren't constantly go go go, but this summer the Lord is showing me how important it is to spend time with Him daily and to trust Him with everything else. These sweet children have impacted me in more ways than they will ever know. They have showed me in just a few short words how important it is just to sit and be with someone else. There's something oddly comforting about spending time with people you love even if it's just in silence. After only a few short weeks I count these children as people I truly love.

In the same way I know that these children have affected the lives of the many teams that have served in Twin Pines. This last week SaugaTuck Congregational Church came and spent time working in the community, and they loved deeply and they loved openly the many people living here. I witnessed them spend time simply being with these kids and learning to love these people even if it's only for a few short days.

Even in the moments of exhaustion they went out of their way to play with the kids, to spin them around, to chase them around the playground, to sit and talk with the parents and the grandparents, to take breaks from the heavy work to go visit with the families, but above all they showed the love of Christ by being present in this community. What an encouragement it is to see kids living out the gospel and in the same way learning so much about the love of the Lord from these small children. I pray that our hearts are always open to see the many things that kids can show us even in the most unexpected ways. I pray that we never grow bored in the simplicity of being in the presence of God and become blind to the wonders he can show us in these moments.

I have fallen in love with the Navajo Community and the ways the Lord is blessing me through them. I am learning to stop rushing through my days and my time with people. I am learning to stop trying to be in more than one place at one time. I'm learning to immerse myself in the Lord and to trust in Him with all things, to let go of the control of my daily life and to live in the present. I'm learning to just be.

"Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God."

"The will of God is always a bigger thing than we bargain for, but we must believe that whatever it involves, it is good, acceptable and perfect."
- Jim Elliot

You must have a group size of at least 6 members to join this trip. Please view the Small Team trips or call our Servicing Department for more options at 888-475-6414.

View Small Team Trips

For most trips, you must have a group size of at least 6 members. Please view the Small Teams tab on each Community page or call our Servicing Department for more options at 888-475-6414.