Today, God woke me up. At this point I know enough about the Lord to know when He is waking me up and this morning was one of those mornings. He usually has to wake me up several times and then it finally clicks that it is Him. As I first woke up at 3am, then 4:30, asking WHY?!?, it finally hit me at 5am that He wanted me up. So I got up. For those of you who have known me before the race I classically have not been an early riser so it is a miracle in and of itself that I got out of bed at 5am. But such has been the case of my world race experience so far; that everything about me is changing and being made new.
Yesterday I had an amazing experience. There is this girl Emily on my squad who is incredibly sweet and has a heart that I describe as a deep well. She uses her well of a heart to give and supply water to all those around her. She and I have been trying to connect since we got here, and finally two days ago we set aside a lunch date to spend some time together. Turns out it was a divine appointment. As we talked and reminissed about our pasts and where we are from I was pleasantly surprised to learn that we have a lot in common; both having ties to Colorado, both having graduated college and worked for several years, and both new to the realm of closeness with God that the World Race invites and entails.
Now back up. Last week my team did a prophecy exercise where we turned on music and asked God to give us something or tell us something for someone else on our team. We didn't know who it was for at the time, we were just supposed to ask the Lord to give us something to write or draw for the mystery person that would be assigned after we were done. The prophecy that I ended up with was from one of my teammates Kelley, and said across the top in bold letters with the last word underlined several times, "Be open to and desire NEWNESS." Also it said that my excitement will be like a child's- unhindered and unbridled. I like to think of myself as a child because I can get really excited about an idea super quickly. 🙂
So anyways, as Emily and I spoke she said the same exact thing to me, verbatim! She said that she sees me DESIRING NEWNESS, and walking in newness. When she said that it hit me like a ton of bricks. I really feel like God has been trying to tell me something this month about my identity in Him and who He wants me to be. My spiritual identity so to speak. Last month several people were talking about their names and what they mean. Many people here come from Christian backgrounds and have biblical names with biblical meanings behind them, and it dawned on me that I didn't really have any biblical meaning to my name. I was actually saddened by this and thought that I would like to have some kind of biblical or spiritual meaning behind my name. But as she said these words, and I realized they were written across the top of a page of prophecy I had recieved, and as He woke me up at dawn this morning, and even as I write this I am realizing that I do, and this is it!!
Desirae Dawn- I am a desirer of newness, not only in myself but in others. I walk as someone who has been made completely new, and because of that I bring others into newness. God sees me as someone who has been made completely new and wants me to be a facilitor of newness for those around me!!
Then, as we were praying together after our talk, I saw myself standing on the rock we were sitting on, in a dress, raising my hands to the sky. As I got this picture Emily prayed that I would consistently put my arms up towards the sky and recieve from the Lord. I thought this strange as I had just had that picture in my head and asked her about it after she was done praying. Lo and behold she described seeing the same picture I had seen! Here is the picture God gave us: Me, Desirae Dawn, standing on the rock, holding my arms up towards the sky in a white dress, symbolicly receiving my new identity in Christ. Wow God, you are amazing!!!
"Those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!"
2 Corinthians 5:17
Then this morning as I went to write this blog, I saw a rainbow in the mirror. It was a reflection off my headlamp above my head; and I heard God saying again; you are new, and assuring me of His promises. Thank you Lord!!
Also, another song to look up and listen to. It is called "Beautiful Things," by Gungor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ4yNYY1hHM
