THE WORLD RACE WITH LEXI LYLE 🙂
By the grace of God alone I was able to receive a classical Christian education from Alpha Omega Academy in my hometown Huntsville, Texas from Kindergarten through 12th grade. This school, that became more like family, excelled at instilling the Truths of our Father within us, through schoolwork and life lessons. Through the staff caring for our good and continuously modeling what it looks like to be led by the Spirit, I have gained many qualities and healthy habits that would have been lacking, had I not gone to Alpha Omega.
I bring my education background up because although I was given every tool necessary to go onto the next stage in my life (college), I could not figure it out for myself. Through being waitlisted and accepted to the “wrong” colleges, I thought I would get stuck and never know how to pick up the pieces myself.
Fortunately, we serve a God where we do not have to figure it out ourselves, nor do we have to try and put the pieces back together.
But this was a lesson I would learn on my Youth Group’s annual summer mission trip.
As I prepared to leave for the mission trip to Atlanta, Georgia, my family suffered the second loss in a year of a family member days before my leaving. We mourned the loss and praised her eternity with the King, and I arrived a few days late to the mission trip where I met up with the rest of the team.
As I silently suffered the feeling of rejection from schools and the loss of my cousin, the Lord continuously broke me and restored me throughout that mission trip. Through this growth my team and I learned new perspectives and were impacted by many of the people we met and the church that hosted us (shout-out to Blue Print Church woo). These revelations happened because God gave us clarity from our misconceptions, a mission, and a glimpse of the everlasting Kingdom that is to come. I began to understand more fully the concept of “He must become greater, I must become less” (John 3:30). The idea of being intentional became a mantra of mine because through this word comes obedience, being Spirit led, and the removal of self. My team and I also saw first hand what being intentional can look like in a community and the effects that surrendering has on our own ambitions.
Now, don’t be misled; I fail at this daily! The pull between the flesh and spirit is so prevalent and spiritual warfare is no joke, but recognizing that God has called us to live in accordance with Him and being able to experience the joy, faithfulness, and intimacy that is a result of choosing the Spirit is worth everything. Even though I fail, the power of the Spirit reminds me of the joy that comes with following His footsteps, which in turn makes me want to live in the light and have accountability!
I came home from this trip with a new understanding of my powerlessness and day-by-day am more convinced of the Father’s sovereign power and faithfulness.
This is when I finally laid down disobedience and looked on the World Race website, which my Youth pastor had been bugging me to at least think about for a while but of course at the time, I was determined to figure things out myself. However, the moment the website loaded I was in tears and immediately felt the undeniable sacred Holy Spirit that is closer than my skin. All my initial doubts and “what if’s” were silenced by the sweet and solid affirmation of our God. Since that day I have been tested and discouraged, but the direction God has given me has led me to be all the more obedient in this mission. Which means that in September of 2018 my teammates and I will go to Swaziland (3 months), India (2 months), Nepal (1 month), and Guatemala (3 months) doing sustainable Kingdom work.
Folks, we serve and cultivate relationships with Immanuel-God with us. He is not finished with you! He has not forgotten or cast you away! He is closer than our skin, His life is flowing through our veins, and we as a family will begin to understand the majesty of the God we serve a little more, if we listen and choose to have the Spirit guide us to something more than we could ever have figured out ourselves.
