Eleven months ago my squad and I were in the Philippines. We looked different, we talked different, we acted different… we probably even smelled a little different. We were at the start of an amazing adventure, and within the short few days we had together to worship, learn, and try to prepare for what was to come, our leaders had us sit down and write letters to ourselves, letters about what we wanted to see happen and what we thought might happen. We opened those letters last night, here’s mine:
Sarah, sweet child, you are a child of joy. You have been handpicked, called by name and loved endlessly. You will bring love and compassion to those you live with.
It has been prophesied over you that you are a woman of JOY – and you know this already in your heart, so allow it to be realized fully. This year God will crash down and destroy your organized life and exchange it for His almighty plans. Your desire will change, your vision of life will change. Your ears will be ears of revelation, your ears will hear the voice and truth of the Lord. You will have to learn how to walk each day with greater faith, greater trust in your Father.
Your anointing is love, you will have to learn how to truly and honestly love those around you in order find fulfillment.
You will sing a new song to God. You will PRAISE HIM in the light an din the dark, in the easy and the hard, you will praise Him through your tears, sorrow, and brokenheartedness. The anguish in your heart will remind you how great His love is.
The change you need to experience will be visible but not just in how you dress or how you look; so much more than your surface will change. The inner part of your being will change. And you will radiate the new life in you. People will look on you and know there is something deeply mysterious and wonderful in you, and you will bring glory to the Lord because of it.
If you want to be that crazy Jesus lady, who has the spiritual sensitivity you long for (and more), then you will have to work for it.
Remember whose you are.
Remember who you were called to be.
Remember the only way you will be able to make sense of all the intricacies of life is to be fully dependent on God and fully swayed by His Spirit.
He is so much BIGGER than you could ever IMAGINE!
Walk in love and stand tall sweet child.
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God has done so much in me this year, everything I wrote to myself in that letter has been realized in one way or another in the past 11 months. I don’t think it’s coincidence that I posted a blog not too long ago about how I feel like a completely different person than the girl I was in the pictures before the Race. This letter reassures me that what has been started on the World Race does not stop here, that the work God has begun in me is going to continue and carry over into my life at home. I am forever changed by the time I have spent in 11 nations with the 20-some people that I am blessed to call my family. In two days I will be back at home, back with family, and back to “normal” life (whatever that means!). In two days I start a new adventure that will look quite different from the one I just finished, but it still holds a similar thrill for me, because I know Who I’m starting it with.
Jesus, I love you.
