How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who
brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns”–Isaiah 52:7.
These were a beautiful white color
once four months ago.
I bought these shoes the first week
I was in Ecuador. The “Venus� is the popular shoe brand there. I invested in a
white pair hoping they’d simply get me through the month. By the time we got to
Peru, they were far from white. I was about to toss them into the trash, so I
began doodling on them. But the more I wrote, the more I loved.
Now they smell.
There is not a speck of white left
on them.
They are loved.
They have helped me walk into who I
have become.
These shoes have marked a season
where I was learning to walk in my identity.
To walk in my freedom.
To walk in rooting my worth in who
God made me to be.
It was a season where if I wasn’t
constantly looking down and remembering to “choose joy” or that I was
precious to our Papa, I would forget and walk in the lies of the world.
Now as we get ready to leave Latin
America, I know God is taking me into a season where I am called to go tell
other people that they too have this same identity. They too are precious
children of the King.
Right shoe:
Living flame of Love
This is just one of the many ways God is described in the Word. What an insane
image! A flame that is alive and burning love. Love is the oil that keeps this
flame burning.
Choose Joy
Going into month 2/ Ecuador, our main contact posed four “choice
challenges” before us. One of them that has stuck with my team through
this journey has been to “choose joy”. Every moment we have the
opportunity to let circumstance define our attitude or to rise above moments
where our mood could easily be swayed by the atmosphere around us.
Preciosa
This is written right on my toe to remind me that I am a precious daughter of
the King. He adores me.
Your Kingdom Come
. Being raised Catholic, I said the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday for eighteen
years, but I never understood the significance of this seemingly hackneyed
prayer. When I say “Your Kingdom come”, I am declaring exactly what
Jesus said–“…on earth as it is in heaven.” We are here to bring
heaven to earth. And it is possible. Heaven invade earth. There’s no sickness in
heaven. So that means I should be praying for even the slightest headache for
anyone because that is NOT of heaven. I’m on this race to train myself to
ALWAYS bring kingdom.
Called
He has written a destiny for me. Right now I know I am walking exactly where He
wants me. It’s an awesome feeling, but again: I need to always remember that He
DID call me here. I am called to proclaim the GOOD NEWS.
Ransomed
The good news is that Christ died for my sins. He paid my ransom. That ransom
was death on a cross.
Life Eternal
Because of His sacrifice, I am given the gift of life eternal.
Faith Like a Child
This has been a year where I am constantly reminded of the verse:
become like a child. Only when we have faith like a child will be really able
to see the Kingdom. Children are used in healing ministries around the world
because no one has told them that miracles are not possible. So children pray
simple prayers in full faith, and people are healed.
Loved
I would like to say this one is self explanatory, but it’s not really. We are
so used to hearing that we are loved, that we have almost forgotten what that
really means. I am a beloved child of the King. I have done nothing to earn
that love. I can do nothing to earn that love. I am loved because I am loved
because I am loved because I am loved.
Left shoe:
But now am found
“I once was lost but now am found.�
No need to look back, to linger every moment on the time when I was lost. The
important part is that I am now found. He found me. He pulled me out of the
Hell I made for myself.
Treasured
I am a treasure in God’s eye. I’m
his pearl, his gem, the apple of his eye. He cherishes me.
You are my everything
This is a constant declaration and
surrender of self. I consistently find myself laying down my flesh when I
reread this.
Outrageously loved
I heard this in a
song somewhere and it resonated with my soul. I’m not just kind of loved. He
loves me OUTRAGEOUSLY. Wildly. Inexplicably.
Undefined
Another declaration. I do not have
to be anything to anyone. There are no molds into which I need to fit. However
I am today is who I am today. And as long as I am walking in God’s love, then
that’s the person I want to be.
Team FIT
These shoes were a part of me
falling in love with my first team.
Vision
You can’t lead without vision. I
have learned that the hard way this year. I am learning that God has a vision
for me, for my team, for my squad, and in walking in seeking out His will, I am
able to lead so much better than if I do it of my own accord.
Bask in Him
This goes deeper than resting in
Him. I always read this and get images of laying on a beach and chasing sun
rays- catching them for myself. But it’s effortless. It’s twirling in a field
and soaking in every last bit of it- the smells, the colors, the breeze.
Seek
Tasked to seek Him. To know Him more
intimately. To never become complacent. To know that He is infinite. There is
always more of Him to know. And I want to know.
Chosen
He has chosen me to go on the World
Race. He has chosen to use me to bring good news. He has chosen me to lead for
this season. None of these things are
because of who I am but because he chose me.
Unending Love
I can do
nothing to make Him stop loving me. I never did anything to make Him love me in
the first place. His love for me goes beyond my actions, beyond my thoughts. This
is the love I came to share this year.
Captured by Grace
The phrase I cannot
seem to escape. It has followed me for quite some time now. And I am still
obsessed with everything it holds. In order to have freedom, you must first be
under some authority–captured by something. Our American freedoms come with
terms, come with limits, come with law, s. Being under God’s Kingdom, in His
freedoms, I first had to be captured by His unending grace. I constantly have
to remember that the limits to his grace are infinite. I cannot escape. I am
forever captured by it.
Now I am walking into a season where those truths are foundational. Those roots
are planted firmly and getting deeper every day. My roots are underground. I’ve
walked so far and so deep in these shoes that every one of those words has
seeped through my skin. They are written on my heart. They shine through my
eyes.
I am: chosen, undefined, captured by
grace, called, treasured, ransomed, precious, loved, and outrageously loved.
That is who Tiffany Handley is.
That is who you are too.
Because the Living Flame of Love is
full of unending love and grace for you.
Thanks for walking with me these
last five months and giving me freedom to run wild in figuring out who God is
and who I was made to be. It’s been a messy five months. I still have six more
months of this to go. There will be inevitable times of stumbling, of forgetting.
Our human hearts are fickle things.
As of now, I am only shy $1,610 of
being fully funded! I have exactly fifty days to have that account full up or I’m
being sent home! Please prayerfully help me reach that VERY LAST deadline!
