After reflecting on 2018 in late December, I asked the Lord what He wanted 2019 to look like. The majority of 2018 was focused on preparing and then embarking on the World Race. For 2019 the Lord said G R O W T H. One afternoon as I sat at the dining room table in our common space I was gazing out the window at one patch of evergreen trees not too far in the distance. As I began to sketch and paint them I considered the growth that each one of them had to go through to reach the point they’re at now. It took time and didn’t happen overnight. That week I also went to the reforestation site and saw thousands of baby trees as they budded out of the ground. Thats how the patch of evergreens out my window had begun as well. It wasn’t something that happened overnight or in a season but it was something that took years upon years. The Lord began to show me the process of healing and restoration that He’s currently walking me through is going to take years, not just a season of life. Yes, so much growth has happened and will continue to happen as I finish the World Race. But when I return home I never want to cease growing and being restored by the Father. I never want to miss any gifts that He has for me. I want to continually look forward to what is in front of me and what is to come.
While the Lord gave me a beautiful representation of growth through the evergreen trees, He also gave me a beautiful picture of a desert. During team time one night, one of my teammates compared each of us to a different climate range and mine was a desert. The lack of water means that there’s not massive trees and luscious greenery all around, which is what typically comes to mind when I hear the word growth. But, the Lord gently reminded me that He is a well that won’t run dry, even out in the desert plains. And growth still happens in the desert. It looks different. It moves a little slower. But growth is still happening.
There’s no way that a plant can digress or ‘un-grow’ itself. As long as it has nutrients, water and sunlight it is always moving forward. In the same way as the Lord provides for us what we need to survive, we are always growing and moving forward, regardless of whether we can see it in the moment or not.
