’m Back! I’m off the field and I am home.
I mean, I am in Iowa, home. For a time.
It has been a year and a half since I have been back here. It has been a year and a half since I have seen my friends and family. It has been a year and a half since I have been visited the places I used to frequent so often. It feels weird because everything is exactly the same but completely different. The faces of neighborhoods have shifted and people know or knew are in new seasons of life but, then again, so am I. Being away for so long makes time seem to move differently some how. While your in a moment or a season it can feel like you have all the time in the world but on the other side you can look back and say that it went by in no time at all.
I have been away from Iowa for a long time now. I have been off pursuing the Lord, finding adventure, freedom, and purpose. I have shared the gospel, seen miraculous healings, I have seen people find salvation for the first time or find it for the last time. I have seen people walk in freedom from sin and bondage, I have seen generational curses broken; I have seen fear, shame, and despair turn to joy in a moment; and I have seen lives for ever transformed forever by the Holy Spirit. It has been an incredible journey so far and I am so blessed to have been present for so many amazing moments. So, why am I saying this? Why am I talking about time and presence?
A big part of what we teach at Adventures In Missions is being as present as possible. The World Race is a very intense journey of community and growth. I have often heard it described as a spiritual pressure cooker. The philosophy behind Being present is freedom from distraction and anything that would keep us from being fully open and engaged to what Papa is doing right now. I love this teaching because so many cool moments have come from just showing up. Being present means being aware of whats happening and being able to discern how to respond. Asking papa, what are you doing?, what are you saying?, what should I do?, what should I say? Whats my role right now? How do you want to use me? However as a former racer and now former squad leader, I have put this teaching in a box. I have bound being present, I mean really present, to specific seasons. As if God is only working is some seasons and not others. But this could not be further from the truth.
Philippians 1:6 says “For I am confident of this very thing. That He who started a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
You see, For every season, even those when we are waiting, there is a purpose. There is a work to be done and without being fully present and engaged we will miss it. I think I can speak for many of when I say that we tend to live for those seasons where the “big” things happen. The things that we have been praying and hoping for an (x) amount of time. But what about those seasons of preparation? Those seasons where small and sometimes unnoticeable work is being done and presented to us so that when those the “BIG” seasons arrive we are equipped and prepared? Why do we tend to write them off? Why do we take them for granted?
Imagine your on a sports team and you skipped every practice and workout session and only showed up on game day because the “BIG” moment was all that mattered. While wanting those moments, in and of themselves, is not necessarily a bad thing, the neglect of the preparation leading up to them is. Before squad leading I went through a season of preparation myself. All though, at the time, I felt like I was just waiting around for something that might never actually come. But as discouraged as I was and in many moments when I wanted to give up, Papa never did. He kept working and stayed the coarse. He was faithful in the work that He started in me and made sure that it became a reality. What I really want to say is this: Being fully present in the waiting seasons prepares us for the fullness of our greatest seasons. You may not feel Papa moving or working and it may feel like you are just waiting for the next big thing to come to pass. It may even feel like you are wasting time or that you will be waiting for an eternity. But even while we are waiting there is work being done in us, through us, and for us in preparation for something greater. Habakkuk 1:5 says “Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your day that you would not believe if told.” God is doing a working in your life that you would not believe even if He told you. So, what are we choosing to do in those waiting seasons? Are we willing to be engaged and open in spite of our perception? Is our faith beyond human logic? Will we do what we see Papa doing, and say what we hear Him speaking? Even when we think it doesn’t matter?
To bring this full circle, being home for me in the past has been a season of waiting around for the next thing and being closed off to how Papa is working and how he wants to use me. I recognize that my life is ministry and ministry is life no matter where I am, what i’m doing, or who I am with. If I am just passing through, visiting, or staying for while my purpose and calling is not bound by any one moment, place or thing. Its not bound to any particular season. It changes and grows with every season I find my self in. Even though I’m waiting, no matter how long, I’m trusting and believing for the season to come. But until then, I will be here, active, engaged, and open to all that Papa has for me right now. Preparing me for something greater than I can even fathom. I hope and pray that ya”ll (i’m a good ol’ Georgia boy now) will be too.
Thanks for reading
Peace and many, many blessings
Here is a song that has been a huge encouragement to me in times like this called Seasons by Hillsong Worship.
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I hope ya’ll are doing well! I want to thank you all who have been apart of this journey so far. I am currently still fundraising to continue this ministry of squad leading Papa has called me too. I have two more debriefs that I am scheduled to fly out for to debrief with my squad in Columbia in June and I am in need of only $323 by April 30th!! $1,823 until I am FULLY FUNDED!!!!!!!!!! I am asking for one time donations and Monthly partners. $25 a month, $50 a month, $100 a month, etc. Whatever you feel Papa calling you to give for this ministry. If you feel called to do so click here It has been a joy to partner with you all so far and I would love nothing more than to continue to do so as long as Papa is calling me to the disciple young men and women who are wanting to pursue a deeper more radical life in Christ. If your are not currently Partnered with me, please pray and seek Papa if this is a ministry you should join! More than anything please pray for my squad. For their journeys for their ministry and for work Christ has done, is doing, and will do in and through them. Pray for deeper revelation of who Christ is and His heart of people. All that they learn and grow in will be taken with them to be used long after they have come home. Bless you all!
