“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
This comes from the love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 which is the chapter me and my amazing team chose to represent what we want this gap year to look like. Love can have so many meanings, but to me love means choosing. It means choosing to forgive the unforgivable. It means choosing to pursue when all you want to do is give up. It means choosing to have compassion on the least compassionate. It means choosing to follow Jesus when everything around you seems bleak and hopeless. Love is just one of the things I found at training camp these past 10 days. I remember the first night of worship and looking around seeing 250+ people who look just like me. Broken, but made beautiful by the love of Jesus. People who have struggles just like me, who learned that being vulnerable is ok, who learned that community is so important, and who love Jesus just as much as I do. Tears where shared, past issues came up, and lots sweat was poured within the past few days, but my biggest takeaway is that I have a story, Gods story, and it HAS to be shared. No ifs, ands, or buts. His story, and my story are intertwined together, and man is that just a blessing in itself. I learned so much more than I could ever imagine in 10 days, but there is a story to be told, and that is the reason why I am going to five countries for nine months. The reason why the only thing I have to carry all my stuff in is a backpack and leaving the comfort of my home. Because this story is bigger than me. Bigger than my comfort, bigger than my safety, and bigger than my fear. This story carries life, it carries hope, and most of all it carries love.
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
My team and I chose this chapter because we have the love of Jesus residing within our hearts. This love is precious, more precious than gold and jewels, and sweeter than honey from the honeycombs. This love keeps us going in the hard times, it helps us love others in a way our own love could not. This love, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. And man oh man I absolutely cannot wait to spend nine months loving on people with my team; my family. Alyssa, Kelly, Hunter, Andrew, Zane, and Joe, you guys ready? Gap O you ready? Because I know I am. I love you guys with all of my heart and let’s go share our stories, love people, and do life together. The kingdom of God is at hand, and it is our job to take it to the people of the nations. So, lets GOOOOOOOOOOO
