Sorry grandma, mom, etc.
Eligible bachelorettes, you can breathe a sigh of relief.
So back in January of 2012 I left on the WR. 11 months to 11 countries. The year wrecked me. It was painful. It was the hardest thing I ever have done. But also the best. I grew in ways that would not have happened outside of the Race and I have friends who will be friends for the rest of my life.
For 6 of those 11 months I team led. I thought I’d be ready for that. Previous work experience had me feeling I was ready for just about anything thrown my way. I found out how quickly I was wrong in that assumption. Team leading broke me. It brought me out of a place of relying on myself and into one of reliance on God for strength each and every day. I learned what it looked like to love in all situations. What it looked like to fight and fight hard for something I really believed in. I learned the importance of rest, to not take burdens of myself with stuff that wasn’t mine, and to be okay with messes. By the end of it in month 8, I was exhausted. While I was happy to step down from that role, it was a blessing to have had the chance to even be in it in the first place.
Monarch. Near and dear to my heart.
When the Race ended, I was going to move to Guatemala. Surprise! I believed I had a job lined up and had every intention of moving within a few months of being back. But shortly after the Race all that came crashing down and I found myself without any sort of direction. Through that sense of loss, I finally found myself heading to Georgia to be involved with Adventures in Missions. It was not what I wanted to do. It was however what I needed to do. Being here brought on a whole new slew of challenges in growth. I couldn’t hide behind ministry and “team leading stuff.” God hit me hard on a lot of things I was more than happy to avoid touching upon.
Fast forward to this recent summer. I co-lead a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico with 8 high school students. I was a bit nervous about this because I can’t say that high school students were exactly my cup of tea. But they and the trip blew me away. God revealed to me a deeper understanding of both leadership and discipleship. My view on the latter especially had been quite shallow before then. What I never realized was the power in discipleship through experiential learning. Taking the things each person is seeing/living/walking out in that moment and allowing God to use that to go to a deeper level of understanding and growth.
Puerto Rico Ambassadors!
So here is the point and the big announcement. God has walked me through a lot in the last two years. It has been a mixed bag of emotions every single step of the way. It’s been ugly. It’s been beautiful. It’s been painful. And it’s been full of healing. Feeling stuck and rapid growth. I also had times where I tried to strike out and do my own thing, only to have the door slam right in my face (Guatemala). And in that feeling of uncertainty and loss along with my willingness to say “yes,” He continued to push me down the path intended for me all along. Then this summer I discovered a passion for discipleship. I believe all of this is leading to something long term. I’ve been feeling it for several months and I’ve had numerous and different people speak/pray that over me. I think this will come sooner rather than later, but even sooner is THIS!
This January, I will be going back onto the field once more with the World Race as an Alumni Squad Leader for 5 months. Never ever did I see myself doing this when my own race finished, but God hasn’t quite closed the book yet on this season. More details on what this means coming soon!
Here we go again!
