Wow. 2 Months of the Race gone by. 1 week of serving in Louisiana. Samaritans Purse. Mudding out moldy, destroyed homes. Meeting strong, hurting people. learning how to pour out and be filled up at the same time. Praying with random strangers. Sleeping in a gym. Going to walmart just for fun. Having dance parties with young and older adults:) Singing Praises to the Lord, every morning, before and after meals. Being exhausted everyday. Wanting to think worldly and complain about the hard work. Comparing myself to others i am working with. Criticizing myself and others. These are struggles that have come in waves this week. Feeling so tired I want to quit working. But The opportunity, privilege and honor it is to be here and I get to serve people and get served by the community!
I GET to talk about Jesus everyday. I GET to experience fun, difficult, weird, challenges. I may not be overseas right now serving the Lord, but I GET to be here in Louisiana with amazing God loving people and serve the community right now. The unknown is not scary when God is in front of me. The unknown is exciting. Everyday is an unexpected adventure! How amazing is that! Meeting new people everyday day is super cool. Not knowing what the schedule is for the next day. Not knowing what my future holds. It‘s all crazy cool. Just living in the unknown, only knowing Christ has me in His arms.
My team here with Samaritans Purse, is mostly people from my world race squad, But we also have other people from all over the country in our group. Our team leader is an incredible leader. His name is Palmer. He and his wife have been serving with Samaritans Purse for years. He is a God fearing man. He never complains. He works hard. He encourages the team. He lives for the adventure of each and everyday. Wow. He inspires me to be more like Jesus, and to live where my feet are. Live in the moment. Giving all my worries and fears of yesterday, today and tomorrow to Our Heavenly Father.
Just living life. Living with just a backpack full of things in a tent or on a floor for the past 2 months has been absolutely incredible. Living everyday excited for the next. Yesterday, in Louisiana, we all were taking our Sabbath. So me and a few of my teammates went to Waffle House 😀 We just wanted to explore the little town around us and rest. But ministry doesn’t stop on Sabbath. God never stops working. So in Waffle House we got to have awesome conversations with the workers and our server. We also got to pray for them. It was easier than I thought. I just prayed with my team for our food and one of the workers pipped in and said “And pray for all of us too!” and so I did! It was awesome getting to pray with strangers! It was simple, but started the day off right. Before the race, I would really not see myself just praying with random strangers. But the encouragement of my team and the Holy Spirit and Love of God being poured into me everyday really makes me step out of my comfort zone. Praise God for that. This week has been great. I am being pushed, encouraged and loved. I GET to share all of that with others.
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Please continue to pray for:
• My team out here serving with Samaritans Purse, that we will have energy, strength and the Joy of the Lord everyday this next week.
• Also for Louisiana and all of the people effected by the hurricanes.
I am so excited for the unknowns of the future! Let’s do this thing!!!
How can you be stepping out of your comfort zone with God this week?
