Wow, I leave for Mexico tomorrow. I am so excited but I am a little nervous also which I think is good. I really had to focus hard yesterday during training because it seems like there is a lot going on back home. Yesterday I learned a lot about Spiritual disciplines, spiritual warfare on the field, and culture shock. I didn't realize that usually everyone experiences culture shock when they leave the country for a extended period of time. I always thought it was bad that I did when I went to Spain. It can be very helpful if you know how to deal with it. The way they described culture shock is with 5 R's which include the romantic stage, realization stage, rejection stage, readjustment stage, and reentry stage. Romantic stage is the honeymoon stage where EVERYTHING is just so cute and amazing. Then you start realizing all the differences and then after awhile you started not liking those differences. Then you get use to them and start adjusting your attitude and behaviors. Then you cme back to the United States and try to figure out how to process everything and get back to this life.
I am learning so much about God's grace just from listening to everybody's testimonies. Some things I learned yesterday was....
"Discipline without direction can be drudgery" God doesn't take excuses when we are fearing something He is asking us to do because He knows us and what we can handle. He made us so DUH!
I am so excited to get started and be on the plane. I will need prayer and especially as I am there longer and hitting some of those different culture shock stages. Thank you for everyone who supported me and gave me this opportunity to serve God.
~Ashley~
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