"You found a quiet place, you know that’s not allowed?."

Dinner is finished and I sit at the top of the stairs pondering what to write when a fellow team member informs me that quiet spots are not allowed.  She is only the third person to pass by since I began writing and here comes the fourth person.  It's not that quiet spots aren't allowed it's just when you have 13 team members and 8 family members sharing a 4+ bedroom house with a small living room and dining room, quiet spots are few and far between.  Sometimes I wonder where the biggest lessons on a mission trip are learned.  Is it from spending hours hauling bags of dirt down the narrow alley of a slum and having your heart get a deeper understanding with each trip of what life is like here?  Is it from holding a crying child in baby class, who is very sad on her second day at school, but then seeing her transform to a smiling happy little girl who is sitting at a desk with her peers?  Does it come from working through issues that arise with such intimacy?  Perhaps maybe it comes from watching a fellow team member toil on and on without complaint?  Or is it a moment remembered from evening devotions and the sharing of the days blessings?  Each of us will have our own lessons to learn. 


A reflection by Susan LaSante