Body, Mind, and Soul

We’ve been home a few days now and have had some time to rest as evidenced by most of our attendance at church yesterday. Resting after such a mission is needed for the body, mind, and soul. While our bodies may have been most immediately in need of rest given aching muscles and jet lag, the mind and soul also needed some time to be still as well.

Thinking through the mission we completed generates the knowledge gained from our shared experience. From learning how to do things for the first time (“I’ve never done that, but I’ll try.”) to conquering previous fears (“I’m not good on tall ladders, but I’ll climb up there.”), we each took away from this mission lessons learned that we will carry with us forever. We learned about each other and about ourselves. Our minds were expanded through exposure to new things and old things made new.

Our souls were also expanded as we experienced God’s world. The discovery and sharing of the gifts of our team members evidenced how God created each of us to be a unique person who has unique contributions to make. The teaming of us for this mission no doubt was guided by God’s hand as we came to complement each other and to work in concert. Beyond the teamwork that formed, the magnificence of Scotland’s lochs and lands reminded us of God’s omnipotence and omnipresence. Indeed, our souls were refurbished just as the rooms we worked on were refurbished.

Now that we’ve rested, we will continue to reflect upon this mission experience. We’ve written another chapter in the story of Hayes Barton Baptist Church and Overtoun House. It is a chapter that will further move Overtoun House toward its goal of serving as a Christian Centre for Hope and Healing. In a way, we’ve planted the Hayes Barton brushstroke cross at Overtoun House. And what the cross symbolizes will be there even as our reflections become distant memories.