Ah Ah Ah Ah Stayin’ Alive! Stayin’ Alive!
Hopefully now that chorus is stuck in your head because it’s been stuck in mine all week! You’re welcome!
I had a root canal done the DAY BEFORE I left for World Race Launch.
As humiliating as it is, I will let you in on some laughs at my expense…
…
Again, you’re welcome.
Thankfully, I had a 13 hour ride from Michigan to Atlanta to process my pain and nausea from it.
YYAAAAYYYYYY
Have you ever had pain so bad that it gave you a headache so bad that it made you nauseous?
You might need to read that question again..
If you said yes- it’s a delightful little cycle isn’t it!? During the drive to Atlanta I was pleading with God in the back seat.. “God I’ve witnessed you do some pretty big and miraculous healings so I KNOW that you can show up and heal something as trivial as my dumb tooth!”
So I sat there waiting …
And waiting..
And waiting.
And FINALLY…
He gave me a vision of an uprooted tree.
What in the actual heck.
Ok God, you’re funny… I kind of get the disgusting correlation between the uprooted tree and a root canal, but what in the world does that have to do with my tooth being healed?
Turns out… absolutely nothing.
At launch we received our key necklaces that we ordered after training camp. They were prayed over and the word we each received was prophesied over us for the year.
My key word: ALIVE.
Some squad mates knew right away what their word meant to them, others (me) had absolutely no idea.
During one of our squad meetings, our squad mentor & team leader did a small devo on John 15. (If you aren’t familiar – crack open that good book and check it out. The whole chapter! So good.) Its a lesson I have heard probably a thousand times throughout my life, but in this moment, it all started to make sense.
Just like John 15(:5-6) says..
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
There were some dead branches in my life that were no longer fruitful that God was wanting to cut off and burn. In order for him to work in me – he needed to deal with the root of the problem first.
Not only was I uprooted from my home, family, friends, and community for this trip but there were also some unfruitful roots in my heart that had grown deep that have been painfully uprooted as well.
If you have felt an absence in your life (for me it has been joy) but are unsure of what caused it – ask God what the root of the problem is so that he can remove it. (hopefully without the root canal along with it). It may be so painful that it gives you a headache so painful that it makes you nauseous… but once you ask God to heal it, you will be much more effective, fulfilled, and fruitful.
I am excited to see throughout the year what new & fruitful seeds God sows in my heart (and my teammates hearts) this year so that we can turn around and sow those seeds in those we encounter along the way.
Bring on the overflowing JOY of the Lord.
God, make me ALIVE again.
For some extra laughs and insight on my root canal experience, watch this —-> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZVhajWQX1A) My brother was right, I probably should not have been driving.
