9 months. 9 months can change a lot about a person: the way they look, the way they act, who their friends are, where they live, etc. A person could also go 9 months and be completely the same: same looks, same behavior, same friends, same home. I think that change depends on how willing you are to change, what you’re willing to say yes to, what you’re willing grow in.
with just a couple short weeks left of the race, i was asked to reflect upon how the race changed my life. i want to rephrase the question because i think it’s easy for a person’s life to change based on situations and circumstances. my life changed drastically because i lived out of a backpack for 9 months, i lived in Guatemala and Costa Rica for 5 of the 9 months, i lived the 9 months with complete strangers from all over the US, and I lived each day more and more devoted to the Lord than i ever had in my life. of course my life changed.
instead, i think a better question is how has the race changed me?
hi, my name is Quincy Ingersoll and i’m not the same girl that left home 9 months ago to go on some crazy mission trip in the middle of a pandemic. 9 months ago, i left my home expecting to be radically changed by Jesus. these past 9 months have exceeded that expectation. let me introduce you to the new Quincy.
I now seek discomfort knowing that’s what brings growth. complacency is something i hope to never fall into spiritually or in anything else. i desire to be in constant growth with the Father in everything i do, even if that growth means the discomfort and challenge of being in the fire and being refined piece by piece. I also know the Lord’s voice, that still, soft whisper of comfort, of knowing, of love. learning the Lord speaks to me is something so new yet something that made so much sense i couldnt help but wonder why i hadnt thought about it sooner. the Quincy now knows what it means to be in constant communication with the Father, even though of course, im not perfect at it. i talk to the Lord like my best friend, like my Father, like my companion. im not speaking into an empty void, hoping my words and breath weren’t wasted. i know without a doubt in my mind that God hears me and that i hear Him. He speaks in so many different ways and figuring out our own intimate language is something i never get tired of experiencing.
present day Quincy also lives everyday figuring out what it looks like to walk in the freedom and identity God gives me, learning how to walk without chains the enemy has tried to hold and keep me in. i now see God as my refuge and truth against the lies the enemy continues to speak. the Father holds me in His hands and in times when i feel weak, defeated, or even heavy amongst the enemy’s schemes, all i need to do is seek the Father first above all else and He casts out the enemy with His perfect love. vulnerability is also something I walk in now. old Quincy didn’t know or understand the point of vulnerability. her mindset was if you let people into your heart, if you give the opportunity to hold your heart, that gives them the opportunity to hurt your heart, to leave and betray that part of you. what old Quincy was missing though, was that vulnerability also opens the heart up to not only recieving love from others but being able to love others in a greater capacity. Jesus walked in vulnerability everyday in loving others with the greatest love there is, the Father’s love, even though He knew people would betray and hurt Him, even though He knew He was going to die on the cross. I now know that that’s the kind of vulnerability i want to walk in. Through vulnerability, the Father has also increased my capacity to love others and receive the love He wants to give me. I’m in a constant, every day journey where He reveals more and more of Himself to me and with that comes the love He wants to give me. old Quincy didn’t know what it meant to delight in the Father and truly fall in love with Him. though that’s something im still figuring out, i seek His face every single day in everything i do with the desire to fall more and more in love with Him for simply who He is, not because of what He can do for me.
something recently ive been learning with the Lord is letting Him be as big as He says He is. old Quincy loves control, to know whats going on, when its happening, what the future looks like, all that jazz. you’d have thought 9 months ago Quincy would’ve learned this lesson by now when she decided to leave home for 9 months not knowing what those 9 months would look like at all. God has moved so much within me and my heart, that I’m constantly learning and changing and growing with Him, and in constant communion with the Father.
There’s a song called “Defender” by Steffany Gretzinger and Francesa Battistelli (great song, i highly reccomend) and some of the lyrics say:
“when i thought i lost me, you knew where i left me, you reintroduced me to your love. you picked up all my pieces, put me back together, you are the defender of my heart.”
that’s what this race was. God became my defender, my all, the one who reintroduced me to all that He was and is and will forever be. so maybe the world race didn’t change my life. but it changed me. it changed me into the woman of God im meant and created to be, she was just hiding for a while, confused and scared. but God found her, put her back together, and here i am.
I am Quincy Ingersoll and im falling completely and totally in love with the Father, the Almighty God, the creator of the universe, my friend, my companion, my 3 in 1.
thank you:)
