My last Sunday at home was by far one of my favorite Sundays. It was awesome getting to see all my sweet friends and soak up as much time with them as I could. My favorite part though had to be the sermon. It was title One Word and was about the one word for the church for 2019. John had been super secretive about what the word was going to be and there were a lot of people trying to guess what his word was going to be. When I sat in the 9 am service I had to fight back laughter when he finally revealed the word because it was my word for 2018 and I was thinking of carrying it forward to 2019. The word was Stretch. He talked about how for the church to grow we are going to have to stretch ourselves and how God has great plans for us to be stretched. To drive home the picture, he was projecting he gave out little red rubber bands to everyone. I put this little rubber band on and have kept it on until it broke a couple days ago. It kept reminding me to look at where God is stretching me and where He has already stretched me so far this year. While in Bangkok (its crazy to think I was actually there) I spent a lot of time reflecting on how much the Father has been working on me so far this year and looking forward to where He is taking me. Here are just a few of the “small” ways I can see He has been working in my life.
At home I would pray out loud out of obligation. Not very often would high school boys want to pray in a group setting so I ended up doing it. I never felt comfortable praying out loud and if I was in a group of adults, I would not do it. I would just wait for someone else to pray. Now almost daily I find myself praying out loud with the team. I have become comfortable praying over our meals and praying asking for direction. My team tries to center everything we do around prayer and it has become something that I have become comfortable with. This may not be a big deal for a lot of people but its super exciting for me.
Another way I have seen growth in myself is in my reliance on the Father for everything. I can honestly say back at home I did not need to rely on the Lord in my day to day life. I knew I would never go hungry and I would never have to worry about where I was going to sleep at night. This is a huge blessing but its also a curse. Living in these third world areas life is not as easy. Living the Unscripted life makes things even more difficult. We have absolutely no contacts to help us with lodging and finding food. (I promise I am not starving mom) Each day we have to wake up and ask the Lord where it is He needs us to be and what He wants us to do. This has been hard for me not just getting up and going to work then getting Zaxbys or CFA for lunch then going to dinner with the family after work. We must ask the Lord for directions each step of the way which has led us to Nong Khai Thailand. I had no idea where this place was a week ago and now it is my home for the next few days. I also know that we are leaving Monday and we don’t really have an idea of where we are going to be. It has been extremely rewarding to rely on the Father every day. I can tell countless stories of things we have been able to experience and people we have me only because of God. For instance, Thailand is mostly Buddhist. There are very few Christians here. There are even fewer in Nong Khai which is near the Laos border. We knew that our host was a decent English speaker and I was exciting to have a chance to present the Gospel to her, but it turns out that isn’t needed. She has a picture of Jesus hanging up on her wall. How in the world could we happen to end up staying with a Christian I an area where there aren’t any? God blows my mind each day here.
In training camp Tim said that one thing he wished for us after the world race for us to be comfortable traveling anywhere in the world by ourselves. I had a feeling that I would get comfortable being in new strange places at some point on this journey, but I had no idea that it would be this soon. In Bangkok one night after we had a group session, I was hungry and knew there was a Dominos about two miles down the road. I also knew that I had a sermon from Quest on my phone I was wanting to listen to, so I set off at about 9 pm to go get some grub. It hit my on my walk back that before I would not have gone to a restaurant by myself let alone walking a couple miles to get there in some strange city. It was thinking about what I had just done on my walk back, but it was empowering to think about how I don’t need to rely on others to do things. The only thing I need to adventure is the Father. I am excited to be confident to explore by myself and see where the Father and I end up.
These are not the only way that the Father has been stretching me this year. These were just the easiest three things to explain. A lot of what has been happening inside me is hard for me to vocalize right now. I know that there are going to be a lot more and greater areas that the Father stretches me this year. I am blessed to be on this crazy journey with Him.
I am also still fundraising and if you are reading this then I need your help. Please consider making a monthly donation or even just a one-time donation. Even if its just one dollar it’s a huge help to keep me out in the field experiencing Gods glory. Also, if you have any questions on how the Father has been working on me or about the World Race in general text me or message me whenever. I love getting to tell my story. Love yall!!!
