Heather Holleman's Blog, page 247

Snow Days–Again

The neighborhood today! We walked everywhere we needed to go. 

Fresh Encounters

What my husband and daughter expressed most of all regarding their mission trip was a fresh encounter with God, His love, His power, and His work. 

They glowed from it. 

I realize the importance of fresh encounters with God. Sometimes, I know we rely on past experience, past emotions, past revelations. Instead, we aim to position ourselves for fresh encounters. We serve radically, off the beaten path, and take risks. We go out far into the unknown to find God there in a new and fresh way. 

5 Questions to Ask Friends When They Return From Mission Trips (or Any Trips)

My husband and oldest daughter return from their mission trip today! Today’s the day! We’ve had no contact except for a 1 minute phone call on his birthday. I’m so excited to reconnect. I’m visiting with my friend who reminds me of this post I wrote last year. I had been worried about what to ask and what to say to bless them most, and she directed me to my own lesson! Enjoy!

My friend sits beside me in church on Sunday, barely awake from her mission trip to the Dominican Republic. “I missed you! How was your trip?” I ask.

This is a terrible question, and I know better. It’s an overwhelming, nonspecific kind of question that makes my friend do all the work. When I returned home from Chicago when I recorded the audiobook for Seated with Christ, my husband didn’t ask, “How was your trip?”

I would have said, “Fine,” and then I would have yawned.

But he asked, “What surprised you the most about the process there?”

What surprised me? Oh, I have so much to say! I want to tell you everything about the technology and my voice and the whole thing!

So this morning as I prepare to meet with other professors for our Bible study, I’m so eager to connect with my friend who just took her whole family on a mission trip. I don’t want to ask, How was your trip? I want to ask a question that will bless her and help her process all that she experienced.

I ask others what they think are the best questions to ask returning friends, and we come up with these that I just love:

When did you have to be the most flexible?
How and when did you experience God the most?
What did you see God do for you as a family?
What did you learn that you’ll want to incorporate in your life and ministry?
What are you finding yourself praying for now that you’ve returned?

I’m excited to ask better questions. I love a good question like a love a good verb!

Begin Something

As we wait for my husband and daughter to return for their mission trip, we reflect on our spring break week of being together: we baked and visited friends, we traveled to neighboring towns, we shopped and ate at a restaurant or two, entertained neighbors, new friends, and old friends, and accepted invitations for adventures. We cared for cats, walked a dog four times a day, had sleepovers, organized the house, painted, and watched television. We did it all! 

And now? We wait and feel bored. But boredom is a trick of the mind–a longing for action without the motivation to do anything. But if you begin to do some task in the midst of being certain you don’t want to do that thing, you’ll find boredom leaving quickly.

We try it. We organize a space and feel creative and inspired again. 

We’re off!