Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0FBb6hnwTo

I love You, Lord
For Your mercy never failed me
All my days, I’ve been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God
 
And all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God
 
His goodness…oh His goodness…(insert soft, goofy grin here, paired with a far-off gaze, necessitated by the immediate flood of memories and real life encounters with this God who is living and active and ever-present and just keeps proving Himself over and over and over and…)
 
His goodness is a Truth that never grows stale to my heart, but becomes more and more vibrant, more solidly rooted, and more convincing with each passing year of my life. I was fortunate enough to grow up with a head knowledge of this concept of a God who is immeasurably and ridiculously good, but it has taken me quite a long time to be persuaded enough to believe this Truth wholeheartedly. You see, I am one who gives my heart completely, once I am convinced that it’s right for me to do so (even if it’s risky), but I am not one who is easily convinced. It’s taken most of my life to truly be convinced, and I’m sure there are seasons to come where this Truth will be tested in my heart, but I’m so very thankful to be in the hands of a God is eternally patient and unreasonably kind – not to mention Who relentlessly pursues the deepest depths of our hearts…
 
.:and He’s always known just how to woo mine:.
 
This past year I traveled the world and got to experience more in 11 months than most people get to experience in their entire lives. In reality, my 11 month journey with the World Race first began in the transformative months preparing for and leading up to launch. My heart had been through some serious healing and depth of intimacy with God after a season of much darkness and hardship in the season prior, and the Race was birthed out of His miraculous ability to lift up the Phoenix of my heart from the ashes and to breathe newness of life and hope into the void. I could sense Him tenderly singing songs of deliverance over me…
 
“For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
    With his love, he will calm all your fears.
    He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
Zephaniah 3:17, NLT
 
As He sang, His voice over me was like a forcefield surrounding me, shielding me from the deafening voice of accusation and hopelessness. He gently quieted my heart to be able to discern His subtle, affectionate whispers, filling me with new strength, and causing my roots to find their way into the firm foundation of His steadfast Love. Once again, I found myself trusting Him enough to get just a little closer, until I finally gave way to His comforting and secure embrace where I rested my head into His chest to hear the steady, soothing rhythm of His heartbeat and to feel the reliable rise and fall of His breath. As I sang the lyrics from Cory Asbury’s popular worship song, “Reckless Love,” I embraced their Truth with every fiber of my being…
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
And I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
 
I had LIVED those lyrics! When my darkness felt consuming and constricting, when I felt out of reach and beyond God’s grasp, when I thought the lies around me would close in beyond breach, the Lord didn’t give up on me…
 
…Oh I will sing of the goodness of God…
 
This is the high platform of my experience of the goodness of God that I was jumping from when I launched on the World Race in August of 2018. This past year proved His goodness to me over and over again through personal encounters with my brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe, who also know Him to be SO so good. My time spent with them brought all the more confirmation to my heart of the consistency of His character, and of His trustworthiness, that He really is as good as He says He is. And the time I spent with Him, serving and bowing low to love on the ones that He loves and has redemption eyes for…those experiences with Him proved His goodness to me too. Despite all of the wonder and beauty and joy and communion with Him and with His children over this past year, I was pretty sure, even to the last day on the Race, that I didn’t really grow much in my intimacy with God throughout this last year. Sure, He had proven Himself faithful in all the ways that I already knew Him to be True, but I had already grown SO much in all my life leading up to the Race, that I really didn’t sense a huge shift or growth spurt in the 11 months that I was away. In huge ways, I was tangibly aware of all the ways I was growing as a individual month by month, and I was hoping that somehow my personal growth was translating into spiritual growth, but I sure wasn’t feeling it it happen if it was.
 
I don’t know if it was the constant travel, the constant people, the constant noise or the massive levels of constant change on the Race, but something was preventing me from being able to discern my spiritual growth with the Lord while I was on the field. As soon as I got home and landed on U.S. soil, though, the Lord kindly surrounded me with nature, beauty, space to create, permission to just ‘be’, along with people who knew me intimately – my perfect recipe for processing life and hearing the Lord’s sweet voice. (He knows what we need, y’all! He just does…we are His kids, and He our kind, loving, sufficient Father). I immediately began to notice that my thoughts had changed, my perspective was different, and I was seeing life through different eyes. It felt like I had been wearing a pair of contact lenses for a little too long and my vision had become a bit blurry – still functional, but not nearly as clear. As I’m processing this all, I look back and realize that it’s been a theme for me in the past for God to gradually change and heal me so subtly and behind the scenes that I won’t even notice the change until it’s already complete. It’s in the thought processes and internal reactions, my interior world, that bear new and unexpected fruit and help me to realize that the Lord truly is always at work under the surface, redeeming us, making us whole and conforming us to the image of Christ, even when we aren’t aware that His hands are calmly knitting something glorious and beautiful in the dark depths of the Secret Place inside us all, where He has chosen to make His dwelling place in all of His children.
 
…Yesterday was my 31st birthday – HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! – haha, and let me tell you, year 31 is already starting out at a significantly deeper level of intimacy with the Lord than year 30 did. And I certainly don’t expect it to end there. Each new year with the Lord is better than the last, because I know Him just a little bit more, and I have just a bit more awareness of how completely and deeply He knows me. I felt led to write this little post, especially since I haven’t posted here since Peru (sorry bout that! I have high ambitions to finish posting about my last 3 countries on the Race – thanks so much for your patience with my processing) 🙂 The first thing that came to mind when I thought about writing this blog was the song “The Goodness of God” by Jenn Johnson (link provided @ the top), because it’s just so true. All my life He has been faithful. And all my life He has been SO so good. With every breath that I am able, oh I will tell of the goodness of God. I’ve been through some dark valleys, and I’ve experienced some deep brokenness, I’ve had my doubts and I’ve been lied to about God’s character by the enemy of my soul. But the Truth is, God’s always been the same, and He’s never gonna change – what need to change are my heart and my mind to match the Truth of His steadfast, faithful and good character. 
 
To each person reading this post, thank you for playing such a vital role in my life by introducing me to just a little more Truth of the goodness of God in your life and in mine. Thank you for being a part of this past year with me, whether in donating financially or in keeping up with this blog and praying for me. You all are so amazing, and I really would not be where I am with the Lord without you.

I want to invite you all to continue joining me as the Lord leads me into this next season of depth with Him, into a leadership/missions/discipleship program called G42 (https://www.generation42.org). If you’ve not read my last blog post, entitled “I Have Oceans More For You,” that’s a great place to start. 🙂

I’m currently at about $4,000 out of my goal of $10,500 to be fully funded for G42, so I only have about $6,500 total left to raise! It’s not necessary to be fully funded before I leave, but it sure would be a wonderful thing, because my heart is to be fully focused on the program while I’m there, rather than needing to focus time and energy towards fundraising.

If you feel led to donate, please feel free to give via the G42 donations website (https://www.generation42.org/donations), which is tax-deductible. Also please consider letting me know when you make a donation by way of the website, because it can be fairly easy to accidentally click the donation button for the wrong person, and payments have been known to end up in other people’s accounts by accident – yipes!

Other great ways to give to me more directly (and I will ensure that they find their way into my donations account) are via:
PayPal: PayPal.Me/AmandaKretsinger
Venmo: @Amanda-Kretsinger
CashApp: $AmandaKretsinger

You could also consider supporting me by purchasing something from one of my creative outlets, listed below. Message me to place an order via Facebook messenger (Amanda Kretsinger) or via Instagram messenger (AmandaRoseKretsinger).

 
1. Headbands (for moms & babies/children) – I can make custom orders with requested fabrics if they are available, though they will be a bit more expensive. Check in with me periodically to see what new fabrics I’m working with if you don’t see anything here that you like 🙂
 
 
 
2. Baked goods – I love to make cinnamon rolls and fun cookies, but I’m happy to bake whatever if you have a special request! (if you live in STL, KC, Raymondville area or Columbia, MO so I could hand deliver them to you! 😉

3. Hand-painted wooden signs – I’m happy to custom-make one for you! 🙂


Also! If you’d like to order one of the shirts I’m selling as a fundraiser, you can do that here: https://www.bonfire.com/everytribe-tongue-nation/
There are lots more colors to choose from than are shown here – check out that web link above! 😉

My program starts the first week in September, so I will only have the month of August to take orders and raise funds in my favorite way – through fun, creative outlets!

Thank you so much for your constant love, prayer, encouragement and for being such a vital part of my journey.
God bless and I love you all!