I didn’t realize how quickly the six weeks between Training Camp and Launch would go, but they certainly have flown by.
These last six weeks were filled with so much. So much love, relaxation, preparation, planning, time with my family, time with Chewbacca and SO MUCH processing.
I think it took this entire 6 weeks to process training camp, but it also took these 6 weeks to process leaving as well. With going through that process I experienced so many emotions.
I experienced doubt, fear, nervousness, anxiety and stress. I believed that I needed to bear this burden of leaving alone and that it was mine to bear and because of that I was drowned in anxiety and doubt.
But over this past week I was going through one of my journals from this past year and I came across one of my entries. It really impacted my thinking and because of that I want to share it with you.
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3/19/2016
Fruits of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, holiness, humility, compassion, forbearance, contentment, thankfulness, consideration, sincerity and perseverance.
- When it’s hard to love, remember God’s never ending love He shows to us.
- When things are tough, remember that your joy is in Christ
- When you are restless, remember that God holds you in His hands and wraps you with His peace.
- When it’s hard to wait, remember that God calls us to patience.
- When it is easy to be mean, remember that kindness turns away anger
- When there is so much bad around you, remember that God commands us to a life of goodness
- When there is much doubt, remember to still be faithful to God.
- Though harshness can come quickly, gentleness brings understanding
- When sin and lust tempt us, remember that we are called to so much more. We are called to a life of obedience and self-control
- When we think we are good enough, remember that God is our holy judge. We are to become holy as He is holy
- When you want to boast, remember to have humility
- When people mistreat you, remember to respond with compassion and mercy
- Though you have little, find contentment that God provides ALL you need
- When you feel entitled, remember who has provided for you and be thankful
- When it is easy to be selfish, remember to be considerate and put others first
- Though it is easy to carelessly say things, remember to be sincere and to speak with sincerity
- When life becomes hard and it is easy to give up, remember to persevere in God.
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When I read these I immediately was convicted of the emotions and thoughts I had allowed to make a home in my head. The doubts, the anxiety, the worry, the fear… Because this is not my burden to carry and God tells us to “take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).
It was these points that stood out the most and spoke to me:
When you are restless, remember that God holds you in His hands and wraps you with His peace.
When there is much doubt, remember to still be faithful to God.
When life becomes hard and it is easy to give up, remember to persevere in God.
The peace that enveloped me in knowing that it is not my own burden to carry is something words cannot express. I serve a mighty God who is faithful, who provides, who cares and who loves. He doesn’t just love and care for me but He loves and cares for everyone I know and love. I serve a God who protects and who guides and who will never leave me alone as I fly overseas for the first time in my life.
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Saying goodbye is not something I enjoy and though I know that I will see every single one of you again when I return this goodbye is hard. It’s hard because I want to be a part of your lives. I want to see you all succeed and be there for you in times of hardship.
Because of this, I would love to be able to keep in touch with you all throughout this year. My best form of telling you what’s going on with me is through these blogs (which is why you should subscribe ;)) But I would love to hear updates about your own life and family and journey this year. To do that, you can send me emails at [email protected].
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So my bags are packed and everything is in order. I leave Roanoke this Friday and launch starts next Sunday. In a matter of a couple days I will be disconnecting my phone from its service plan and will no longer be able to receive texts or phone calls.
And though I will not be deactivating my Facebook account, I will not be on social media except maybe on very rare occasion to post a photo album. This means that I will not be seeing any messages sent via Facebook or be able to respond to them. So like I said above, please send me emails 🙂 I cannot promise a quick response, but I can promise that I will reply when I have the chance to.
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If you haven’t noticed yet, there are some new tabs on the right hand side. One is a tab that allows you to meet my team. In my previous blog, I introduced my team to you all. Our team name is Anchor Depths and it consists of myself and five other amazing women. I am so excited to get to learn more about them and grow with them through this next year.
Another tab is Adopt My Team, which allows you, your church, or a group of people to adopt my team. What this means is that you are committing to praying for my team as a whole and as individuals. You will be given updates on how we are doing, prayer requests that we have, and how ministry is going. This is potentially a little more personal than the blog updates that we post. There is no limit on who can adopt our team and I would love to have your support in this way.
I have been so encouraged through everyone who is praying for me. Prayer changes things and it changes the environment, so I’m asking for you to prayerfully consider adopting my team. If you would like to do this, please click the “Adopt My Team” tab on the left of your screen, but if you could also let me know I would love to get you information on my team as well.
Till Next Time,
Kara Faber
