{"id":3231,"date":"2014-06-02T08:54:17","date_gmt":"2014-06-02T08:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/?p=3231"},"modified":"2014-06-02T08:54:17","modified_gmt":"2014-06-02T08:54:17","slug":"furlough-prep-3-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/2014\/06\/02\/furlough-prep-3-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Furlough Prep 3: Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_3239\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3239\" style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06916.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3239 \" title=\"DSC06916\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06916.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06916.jpg 800w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06916-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06916-500x375.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3239\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Every task in life involves challenges that need to be overcome<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>What Are Some of the Challenges you face in Ministry?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Saying Goodbye &#8211; <\/strong>Saying goodbye is just a constant reality of our life.\u00a0 It never gets easier.\u00a0 We leave behind family and friends and return to meet kids that were born and are now 2 or 3 years old.\u00a0 We miss weddings, funerals, and birthday parties.\u00a0 On top of that we live in an environment which is constantly fluctuating.\u00a0 Just the other day we learned that Ethan&#8217;s best friend at school is moving back to France and won&#8217;t be back after this summer.\u00a0 He is very sad and it is just hard.\u00a0 These types of things happen to all, but they happen a lot more frequently for us and it is always a challenge.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Constantly Playing Catch up<\/strong> &#8211; We have moved here with people who have grown up in this culture and so we are always playing catch up to learn the essentials of life that they have known since a young age.\u00a0 Even our kids play catch up as they have not just one culture to learn but two.\u00a0 We make constant progress, but there is always more that we could learn.\u00a0 There is never a time when I sit down in relief and say&#8230;&#8221;We made it, we are done!&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Challenges of Daily Life &#8211; <\/strong>Daily life here presents challenges that add stress: worms, cockroaches, mosquitoes, unfiltered water, power outages, scratch cooking and I could go on.\u00a0 The stresses in themselves are not great, but it the culmination of all of them that sometimes makes me scream in frustration.\u00a0 Every piece of life here takes at least one more step and all the steps together makes the climb of daily life seem a lot steeper.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Predictably Unpredictable &#8211; <\/strong>Living here means that the only thing I am sure of is that I have no idea what each day will bring me.\u00a0 I have learned to just take things as it comes, but it is still a challenge at times.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Finding a Balance<\/strong> &#8211; There is never a shortage of good things we could be doing.\u00a0 It takes wisdom to carefully pick what and how we fill our time.\u00a0 Yet it takes even more wisdom to protect ourselves from burnout.\u00a0 It is a fine line that we are often walking the edge of.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rest<\/strong> &#8211; It is hard to find rest here.\u00a0 It takes more creativity as there are not as many relaxing options around us.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Being Constantly Willing to Sacrifice <\/strong>&#8211; God asks all of us to be willing to sacrifice and in theory I am always in agreement with him.\u00a0 However I have to keep my heart in check to make sure in practice I am living our that call and not just agreeing with it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Keeping our Eyes on The Goal &#8211; <\/strong>We can do all the right things but if we take our eyes of the source it is for nothing\n<figure id=\"attachment_3238\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3238\" style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06915.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3238 \" title=\"DSC06915\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06915.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06915.jpg 800w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06915-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06915-500x375.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3238\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Even with the challenges this life presents, we are so honored to be part of this ministry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3241\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3241\" style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06918.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3241 \" title=\"DSC06918\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06918.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06918.jpg 800w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06918-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06918-500x375.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3241\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">We are also so thankful for those who are faithfully praying for us as we face these challenges<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_3240\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3240\" style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06917.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3240 \" title=\"DSC06917\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06917.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06917.jpg 800w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06917-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2014\/06\/DSC06917-500x375.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3240\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Because your prayers make a difference!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Are Some of the Challenges you face in Ministry? Saying Goodbye &#8211; Saying goodbye is just a constant reality of our life.\u00a0 It never gets easier.\u00a0 We leave behind family and friends and return to meet kids that were born and are now 2 or 3 years old.\u00a0 We miss weddings, funerals, and birthday [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":830,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2545],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-updates-and-news","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/830"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}