Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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So this morning I finished my last shift at work. I have to say it was pretty emotional, I’m usually good at controlling my emotions in front of the girls but not yesterday or this morning. At dinner, my amazing friend Matt came and played guitar and sang with us. This was the first time I really had gotten to slow down all weekend and as I sat there listening and watching the girls sing with him, I realized how quickly my time with them was coming to an end. I turned to one of the girls who was playing with my hair and said, “Im going to miss you” she held me and one of the other girls grabbed my hand and cuddled up to my other side. It was a beautiful scene, one that I didn’t feel ready to leave, one that I will never forget. I didn’t think it could get any better…. 

But it just kept getting better…. and turned out to be the best night of my life. After it had gotten dark, we sent the girls on a scavenger hunt where they would end up on what we call Cliff’s Hill. I had blankets, a guitar, and food waiting for them when they finished. God placed the most beautiful arrangement of stars in the sky and we all got to lay there together in awe of His beautiful art work. 

 

I read this part of Velvet Elvis to the girls:

“God empowers creation to make more and in doing so loads it with potential. It is going to grow and change and move

 

and not be the same today as it was yesterday, and tomorrow it will move another day forward. Creation is loaded with potential and possibility and promise.”


If they remember anything I have ever said to them I hope they remember that we are a part of God’s creation, each of us are pieces of His beautiful artwork and we are

 

loaded with potential and possibility and promise.

 
That is one of the many things I will remember from my time there because I was right there with them learning who I am. They taught me so much about my purpose and about the body of Christ. I can not even express to you in words what God did in my life at Shepherds Hill. When I left Valdosta, I left with some hurt and a lot of regret. I can remember sitting in my car my last semester and hearing that song, “I wan

 

na be a legacy, how will they remember me?…” and just breaking down. I felt like I screwed up, I cared about the people there so much but I knew I wasn’t leaving them with the impression that should have. I wanted to be a legacy, I wanted them to remember the God in me, I wanted them to remember me as being different. But somehow I got sucked in, I took the easier more worn path, the one that seemed to have more company and ended up feeling more alone than I ever had. I can remember the moment I

 

realized how lost I was. I had run so far that I had no idea where I was or where I was trying to go. I was alone and scared, I knew there was supposed to be more, I knew I had potential. This is when I fell to my knees and said, “God, I’m so lost…Please help me find my way!” Being the loving and faithful God He is, He didn’t just clear the path or point me in the right direction… He picked me up and carried me and told me who I am, His beautiful baby girl. Then He carried me all the way to Shepherds Hill to teach me what that meant.

 
As I layed beneath the stars with the girls I now consider my family and some of my closest friends, I couldn’t imagine any place I would rather be. It was at that moment one of the girls spoke up and said, “Miss April, you left a legacy here.”