I never would have imagined my World Race experience to have began like this. I was raised up and asked to be a team leader just before leaving America. I gave it a hesitated but full send. It was a struggle, a battle, a mental and emotional war the last three months. It was also such a joy, an experience, and a time for lifelong growth. I discovered so many new things about myself, my teammates, the world, and what it looks like to go deeper with the Lord. There were countless moments of feeling alone and like an outcast, but this was a season of preparation and of choices, and in those dark moments I had a choice to make. I could either wallow in those feelings and let them consume me, or cry out to our perfect Father who reminds me ALL the dang time how in control He really is. All of the choices made and victories won are to prepare me for what is to come, for whatever and wherever the Lord has me going next. These are the key 5 things I am challenging myself to carry with me for the rest of my life. 5 lessons I have learned during my time of team leading. 5 major points that Papa is walking me through and I will continue to grow in.
Here we go, the 5:
- Humility
- Unity
- Leadership
- Love
- Sustainability
(REPEAT)
HUMILITY: I do not say this lightly… as a leader you MUST know your identity! How could you lead people well if you yourself do not know who you are? Dig deep and discover who God says you are. Accept and believe that what is revealed to you is truer than true. Continually respond from a place of that truth and in love. While leading this team I had to remind myself of my identity daily. The only way I could function was knowing deep in my heart how God viewed me, not my team. My worth, my value, and my acceptance will never come from preforming well or taking on this weight of being a stellar team leader. I am worthy, valued, and accepted for just being me and owning who I really am to the fullest. Knowing your identity makes humility that much easier in my opinion. Once you know who you are nothing and no one can diminish that. To lead well you must first know who you are then submit that to the ONE who called you such. It is never about me. It is always going to be about God and giving Him the glory. Leading with humility looks like accepting who I am and giving it all away. I was challenged in this heavily the last three months. I questioned if I had what it took to be a leader in an environment I did not see myself qualified for. I began to believe all these lies about who I am, my gifts, and my character. I pitied myself and my loneliness. Yet the Father would wake me up every morning and remind me that His mercies are new again and again. I would spend time with Him reflecting on who He says I am and could conquer the day from there. The more He showed me about myself, the more I wanted to thank Him, and the more I thanked Him the more He gave me eyes to see others the way He does. Team leading was the most humbling experience. I certainly do not have all the answers, nor was I the most qualified. But God allowed me to see myself and my team with new eyes. New eyes that said, “for Your glory.” It was never about me. It was, is, and always will be about Him. If He sees me as perfect, loved, and a desired, then how much more does He see others that way? I want to see His people the way He sees me.
UNITY: I put unity right after humility because these are two cohesive lessons that did not come easy for me or my team. Without unity there is just a mess to be cleaned up rather than a goal to reach. When a team knows their identity and is able to humble themselves to see others the way God does unity will come naturally. Our concerns will be for each other not ourselves. Our goals would be shared and not contradict. Unity is powerful. Unity is what starts revivals. Humble, radical lovers of Jesus unified under one name, one body, and one mission. Unity will produce change. Leading a team with disunity made me feel that much more of a pressure to preform. I thought, “if I could just get us all on the same page just once that would be amazing.” That thought tore me up. For one, I was making it about me and two, I cannot force something that is not there. We had to work for unity on our team. We all needed to humble ourselves and desire unity, together. We created space to be vulnerable, express our intentions and expectations and that was how we framed our unity. We all wanted it but we all had different ideas of how to achieve that. By humbling ourselves we were able to come together, unified, and capable of making a difference together as a team. Without unity there is not a team, only team members. Had I not reevaluated my humility I am not sure I would have valued team unity as much. There is a purpose for each one of us and when we are unified and can use one another to build up the team we will become that much more powerful.
LEADERSHIP: Part of who I am and who I am called to be is a leader. I tend to take any leadership role with a heavy weight of responsibility. There is good and bad in that, the bad part being I take it too seriously sometimes and the good being that I do take it seriously. In Mark 10:43-45 (TPT) Jesus says, “You are to lead by a different model. If you want to be the greatest one, then live as one called to serve others. The path to promotion and prominence comes by having the heart of a bond-slave who serves everyone. For even the Son of Man did not come expecting to be served by everyone, but to serve everyone, and to give His life as the ransom price in exchange for the salvation of many.” I studied this passage over and over again and every time I came back to humility. Jesus knew who He was, how powerful and great was the calling on His life. Yet He humbled Himself, became like a bond-slave in order to serve others. A bond-slave is someone who voluntarily serves. As a leader we are not forced to do anything rather we have the privilege of leading and serving the ones around us. It has been a joy to serve. In fact, that’s a way I show my love and care for others, by serving them. The lesson learned here was not when I should serve my team more but how am I serving them? Am I serving them in a way that they need to be served? Am I making this about me and only serving in ways that I feel they will accept my love? Am I serving out of a place of a slave or a bondservant? Have I truly humbled myself and volunteered to serve these people regardless of how it is received? I want to continue to lead a life that reflects that of Jesus. A servant at heart, by choice not by obligation. I want to lead by a different model.
LOVE: A lesson I have to choose daily is to love. Loving people as a generalized umbrella phrase is so easy. I love to love people. I love to serve them, make them smile, make them feel appreciated, seen, and welcomed. Loving everybody always though… that is a choice. To respond, act, and always be flowing from a place of love is the hardest thing. Knowing that first, I myself am loved and then allowing what comes after be from that source of knowledge will make the choice to love others easier. On the race you are in a constant state of community. There is no privacy, alone time, or solitude (even though you can feel lonely emotionally). You are always with people, you see them at their best and worst. You are there when they are hangry, annoyed, frustrated, depressed, all time highs, and lowest of lows. You are the one they react to, take things out on, and confide in. Surrounded by a foreign culture, strangers who all look alike, weird foods, smells, and you are all each other has. Learning to love the ones closest to you, the ones who have hurt you, and the ones you just cannot stand is a choice worth making. Being a good leader is leading by example. I want to continue to push my love tank to always be one of overflow. To lead well by loving others whether they deserve it or not. I want to choose to love everybody always. To love someone is to treat them how you want to be treated.
SUSTAINABILITY: This is huge! I was unsure whether to put this first or last. Honestly, you cannot do any of these 5 tips without first having a sustainer. I am sure many of you have heard the analogy of the cup and it being poured into in order for you to pour out. This is true, and it’s so great! Once we are full and have something to pour out and share with others we should. But for that to be sustainable we should have an upright cup never tilting to pour out. If we tilt our cup to pour out we would be using ourselves for the outpouring. Whereas if we constantly leave our cup upright and allow it to be filled until it is overflowing, then the overflow will be the continual outpour. We as saints in the Kingdom have one job. Our job is to be loved. When we grasp that, imagine what the world would look like. We are asked to be an upright cup, to be poured into, drenched in mercy, soaked in grace, saturated and overflowing in love. The more full our cup the heavier, sturdier and more grounded it is. We become less likely to stumble. We become less inclined to empty ourselves and be the cause of an outpouring. We are eager to see an overflow and the things surrounding us to be affected by it. We realize the source of the overflow and our job is just to simply stay upright and accepting. The stuff filling your cup, sustaining your overflow is found when you spend time in the presence of God. It is found when you read His word, when you become obsessed with His character and who He is, what He says about you and how immensely loved you are. To come to terms with your sustainer allows everything else to be done from overflow. I am sustained through my Sustainer, King Jesus. I am then humbled, and find myself seeking unity within the body to help further the Kingdom. I am allowing my surrender to the Lord be first, a strong and sturdy upright cup. The overflow will produce good leadership by the example I set and the love that comes from being loved.
I have loved this season of leadership. I’ve received revelations. I’ve grown through the hard times. Digging deep into the Word has helped me rediscover and unveiled more of my identity. I’ve sought out more of what it means to surrender everything and thrive in the presence of the Lord. I will pursue leadership by example everyday regardless of a title. It’s an honor to be able to choose love daily. I’m thankful for the opportunity and have already seen fruit from this season. I’m grateful for a passion to learn and a drive to be, do, and hope for better. I love you all dearly. Thank you for your prayers, support and heaps of love.
~written in love by your local gypsy
