What do you think of when you think of missions? Do you envision living in a hut while natives gather around you hungry to hear the Word of God? Or, maybe you think of handing out food to starving people who will be so grateful to you for all that you have done. Perhaps, you think that we are on a constant spiritual high and we just hop from one mountain top to another.

Sometimes people tend to glamorize missions. They went on a one-week mission trip and the experience was so wonderful that they mistakenly thought that full-time missions would be the same. Let me say, comparing one-week trips to full-time missions is like comparing babysitting a child for two hours to full-time parenting. You get a little glimpse of what it’s like to feed and care but after a bit you get to turn the baby back over to her own parents and you go home to your comfy house and normal life.

So, in order to help bring a little light…and perhaps some humor…into missions life, we have composed a top ten “confession” list of not-so-glamorous happenings here in El Salvador over the past couple of months.

1. I have gained 5 lbs since the quarantine started. Yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking, “We all have gained a little weight since the lockdown began.” But, when you live in a country where people are actually going hungry, putting on weight just adds to the guilt.
2.  We disobeyed authority and left our home for non-essential and non-approved reasons. We teach our youth that it is important to respect their authority yet we confess that we may have snuck out of our home for non-essential purchases…such as Coca Cola.
3.  I smooshed a giant cockroach in my bathroom with my flip-flop. Recently I walked into the bathroom during the night and discovered a giant cockroach on the bathroom door. Admittedly, cockroaches are all too common here so I just quickly took off my flip flop and smooshed him, scooped him up with toilet paper and then flushed him away. But, now you want the gross confession? Several days later I was standing in the bathroom brushing my teeth and looked over at the door only to see the cockroach guts and a wing still stuck to the door. Apparently I had forgotten to clean up all of the evidence of my nighttime assassination.
4. I have spent way too much time on social media. Yep, that one was hard to type. I have a love/hate relationship with social media and have found myself getting lost in it more often during the quarantine.
5.  I actually got into a disagreement with a stranger on social media. I may erase that confession because that is way too embarrassing and I have never done anything like that in my life. Really? What was I thinking?
6.  I discovered that there are things that I always said I would do when I finally had time and now that I am in quarantine I still don’t do them. Like exercise. Or, tackle administrative tasks I have put off for months. Or finally organize that spare bedroom. Now that I am in quarantine this would be the perfect time to do all those things that we say we are going to do someday! That someday has arrived! Only now, we are without excuse. We must either do them or confess that we never really wanted to do them in the first place and were just always looking for a good excuse. Ouch.
7.  We found a giant dead rat with worms coming out of it inside our church. We have always had a rat problem in the church. Yeah, I know that is gross. It comes with living in Central America. Back in March Bobby put rat poison all over the church in order to keep them from taking over the place during the quarantine. Then, last week he walked into the church for the first time in weeks (yeah, it was during one of those sneaking out times) and found a giant dead stinky rat with worms laying in the middle of the church. He scooped it up with a shovel and threw it in the back yard.
8.  I dodged bats in order to check out books. During another one of our sneaking out times I went down to the church to check out some books from our library to take to a couple of our youth. During my visit I discovered that rats aren’t the only thing trying to take over our open-air unoccupied church. There were now several bats flying all around the kitchen and library area. They weren’t happy with my arrival and even more annoyed with the fact that I turned on all the lights. I sucked it up and walked bent over all throughout the library pulling out books and noting them in our check-out system. I am sure that I had to look crazy walking around like that with bats flying over my head but I was afraid to stand up, convinced that if I did they would fly into my hair. I am happy to let you know that I made it out safely with out any bat attacks and I just left all the lights on to continue to annoy them.
9.  I wear my pink capri pajama bottoms most days of the week. Craig Groeschel says that good leaders need to not stay in their jammies all day during the quarantine. They need to get up and get fully dressed every day as if they were going to the office. Well, Craig Groeschel doesn’t live in a tropical climate with no air conditioning. My capri pajama bottoms are light and comfy and when it is 100 degrees and you are sitting in sweat, they are the perfect option. In fact, I would even dare to say that they help me to be even more productive.
10.  My heart’s motives are revealed. During the quarantine God has had to deal with me over some things. Selfishness, rebellion and complaining are things that He has convicted me of. Recently He spoke to me loud and clear through Ephesians 5:15-16. “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Had I made the most of this time in quarantine? Had I used every moment wisely in a way that glorifies Him? It’s easy to complain about all that is going on, but these days in quarantine were written in His book, too, and they also have a purpose. Verse 17 of the same text goes on to say, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” It is my prayer that I would not use this time foolishly, and, as the Psalmist says, that I would “learn to number my days so that I may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

So what about you? Do you have any quarantine confessions that you would like to share with us? May we make the most of this opportunity and glorify Him in every moment of every day – both in and out of quarantine.