I have two weeks left of Squad Leading.
This adventure has once again brought me out of my comfort zone and into the nations to come alongside 45 young adults who are radical, world changers.
I have sat with people while they cried.
I have cried on their behalf.
I have laughed harder, spoken more boldly, and trusted more easily than ever in my life.
I have felt like a parent, watching this squad grow up into who they are in Jesus.
I have gotten to be a friend, a mentor, a teacher, an encourager.
I have said words that pushed people out of their comfort and into growth.
I have said the thing that needs to be said in the hard moments.
I have helped people find freedom through color and art and expression.
I got to witness people stepping into spiritual gifts they didn’t know they had.
I shared the way I encounter God and invited them to encounter him too.
I have grown and been pushed in ways I never could have imagined.
I held hands with widows.
I played with orphans.
I hugged a mother whose 11 year old daughter died suddenly.
I prayed with people to be healed physically and they were healed.
I prayed for emotional healing and people were healed.
There are moments from the last four and a half months that are burned into my mind for the rest of my life.
Moments that bring tears of joy and tears of heartache,
But all of those things I would not have been able to do without Jesus next to me every step of the way. It is only by His grace and His confidence in who He made me to be, that I have been able to function in this role. God gets every drop of glory and every ounce of praise, because He is great in me. He used me, absolutely, but there is no way I could have done it without pressing into Him every day. He has showed me more of who I am, and solidified who he has been telling me I am for the last three years.
I have two weeks left.
This month has been about training the new Squad Leaders who will carry the torch after Erin and I leave.
It has been amazing to hear their perspective and enjoy their company.
The three of them have grown so much in the last five months and I am excited for them to continue this journey as Squad Leaders.
Through this whole almost five months, God’s faithfulness has been extremely evident and present. I have been met time and again with His grace and have been humbled daily over the big and small things. Never in my life have I felt more comfortable with who I am, been able to laugh at myself as much, and be seeking an overflow of the Holy Spirit as much as I have while out here on this race.
As I prepare to head home and have America come at me again, I am ready.
I am ready because I can feel that it is time. A month ago, I would have said there was no way I was ready to leave the field again and come home. But God has a way of preparing our hearts for what is to come. When we raised up the new squad leaders, some things began to shift in my heart. This squad has almost been taught what they can learn from me in this season. I have shared much of my heart, but have been given so much more from Jesus. I have loved getting to walk this journey with people as they learn to trust God more, but now it is almost time for them to continue without me, because God is going to do more without me here than he could if I were to stay.
As I prepare my heart to come home, please keep me in prayer.
My goal is to not fall off the face of the earth this time, like I did the last time I came home from the race. I am heading home to Michigan for Christmas, then hopefully back to Georgia in January. I am job searching and hopeful about pursuing some dreams I have for the future. I need to stay engaged in my life and not check out again.
I am excited to see where the next season will take me in this crazy journey. I have been so blessed to travel to so many different parts of the world to bring the kingdom of God. Once again thank you so much for joining me in this adventure.
There is still an opportunity to help support me for squad leading. I need about $2300 to be fully funded for this portion, then about $1500 to be able to come back out to the debrief in three months, and another $1500 for debrief at the end of the race. But right now the most important is the $2300. I would love to be fully funded in that by the time I get home in two weeks. Over the first two weeks of this month over $800 was donated to my account. Thank you to those who donated, I am so thankful for you!!
There you have it. In just over two weeks I will be back in America, land of the Christmas explosions, holiday drinks at starbucks, and the polar vortex round 2. See you soon America, this is my two weeks notice.
Much Love,
-A
