I’ve always liked people. Talking to them. Learning about them. Hearing about their hobbies. Their families. Their passions and their favorite cereal.
This month in Australia I got a revival, a taste and a new layer of love for relationships.
Our first month on the World Race was one for the books.
We were in Byron Bay and Coffs Harbour and got shaken, moved and loved in so many ways. Our focus (and honestly what I? want to focus on for my entire life) was relationships.
I’m talking about REAL-ationships. The ones that you truly crave to get to know someone and their heart. The ones that are life-giving and uplifting. The ones that open the door for honest and meaningful conversations. The ones that are lighthearted and start with a simple smile. The ones that open up wide doors to share about your relationship with Jesus (sometimes in spoken and sometimes even in unspoken ways). The ones that allow you to see and love on the person in the way that God seems them. Understanding that God purposefully and intentionally outlined and appointed to them for you.
In Australia we spent most of the times seeking out the Lord in prayer and in action on building relationships.
We built relationships at the park by the beach with the help of guitars, free henna/face painting and free braids (and of course Jesus) that opened doors to get to truly know new friends and their hearts to then openly and very organically share about our relationship with the Lord.
We built relationships with the local baristas, grocery store attendants and strangers at the shops by smiling, engaging in conversations about their life and carrying out our actions with LOVE on our mind.
We built relationships with the local YWAM staff, church staff and Christian community in the area to speak live over each other, share encouraging words and grow in love with Jesus! Thank you pan-chai events and community dinner for leaving doors wide open for these things.
We built relationships with the surf instructor and with the server at the juice restaurant to step into the reality that life is ministry, and ministry is life. That there is no off switch, or personal agenda or outlined goals/results that one must seek after. That you simply live life with an intentional and devoted heart posture of worship.
We built relationships with the community of a small local rehab facility and with the members of a botanical garden to physically help them with a task at hand while opening the door for memories, laughter and serving. In which we were able to pray over the area, embody characteristics of Christ and leave them with some encouragement.
We built relationships with each other as a world race team (yay for all squad month aka 40 people living, eating and doing all of life together) to speak life into each other, reflect God’s love for each other and empower each other. Also a great time for memories, millions of jokes, fries and HEAPS of back scratches (yay for the perks of community living)
We individually built on our relationship with our Papa. Learning new ways in which He sees us and loves us. Deepening our intimacy and encounters with Him and finding more of our identity in Him. Discovering in which ways He is calling us and in which ways He wants us to be obedient. And jumping right into adventures with Him.
Papa I thank you for relationships, friendships and for loved ones. Lord I thank you that you use those relationships to speak to us and to love us. Lord I thank you for entrusting us daily with those people you place in our paths. Lord I pray that you open up our eyes to see more like you and feel more like you. So we can speak and be more like you in our interactions and reactions.
