Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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     In this breath, I bask in the deep love that the Father has lavished on me, but how many times did I miss out on doing so?  

     The greatest commandment is to love your God with all your heart, soul and mind. I know I miss the mark on this commandment, but what I have come to learn is how the Father never misses the mark on loving me. Four days ago I came down with what one doctor said was tonsillitis and another said she wasn’t convinced that that was what it was, but treated me for that or any possible virus. This period of illness has allowed me some space with the Lord that I so desperately needed to process the past month in Zambia. I don’t want pity or to sound like I’m complaining because this isn’t about me. It’s about the deep love of the Father I will never fully understand, but can only keep trying to understand. If you don’t see the depth of His love for you in your life today maybe you can see it in mine and know that this same love is poured out abundantly for you.  

   In week two my team and I were evangelizing in the big market in Lusaka, Zambia, Africa. Each day we would pass out fliers to any and everyone, inviting them to the church we were working with this month. I wish I could tell you all that this was the highlight of my month but for those of you who know me, know that I have a huge heart for women and for them to have equal respect and honor that men have. And let’s just say as white females in Africa, not only did we stick out like sore thumbs, but we were put in situations that were particularly unsafe. However, the Lord’s protection surpassed the cat calls, harassment and other inappropriate actions of drunk men all around us in the market.

   Week three we were hit with more challenges such as two car accidents. One was a fender bender that was no big deal. And the second one left us with only a few bumps and bruises after our driver rear-ended a fifteen passenger van while traveling about 50 miles per hour. To paint the picture of the Father’s love for us in more depth, the van we were riding in did not have multiple functioning doors. We all crawled in through the front door. Not all the seats were originally made for that van so one swiveled and tilted because it wasn’t being held on by much. Oh, and none of us had seat belts on, not by choice, but because they simply weren’t functioning. We were highly favored and completely protected for we were able to walk away from the accident with only bumps and bruises!  I will let you in on another fun secret. The accident happened while my teammates and I were on our way to the hospital to be checked for malaria because one of my teammates had been checked and diagnosed with malaria earlier that morning. Four of my teammates were tested positive and were treated and are now recovering! Because of the treatment, none of them were hospitalized, so we praise the Lord for wisdom, discernment, and the knowledge the doctors had to help cure it. If I’m being honest with you, I personally was in “fight or flight” mode since week two. If I wasn’t fighting off bedbugs, maggots, beetles and flies in the bug-infested house we were in, I was running away from processing all the emotions and challenges that had impacted me spiritually and emotionally. And praise the Lord for leaders who responded to the Holy Spirit and called us to leave two days earlier than originally planned, to rest before we moved to a new country! In this space of resting, I understood that my body was so complexly designed to allow me and everyone else know what it needed. Rest! My 105 fever was my body screaming at me telling me to rest. And the Lord so beautifully knew I would have the next four days to do so.  

   As I laid there resting and thanking the Father for the multiple occasions and all the different ways I saw His favor, protection and deep love for me and my team this past month, I basked in His love for this very breath I take. For the countless times I held my breath this month, I am overwhelmed by this wonderful breath in my lungs in this moment.  

 

     Thank you, Father for this breath and all the wonderful things that exist in this space. Thank you for the depth of love I will never understand and the mystery of it that presses me forward to know You more and to love You deeper. I pray my heart never loses sight of how deep Your love for me is in each breath I breathe! May our love grow fonder continuously. Thank you for Your protection this month! May I be reminded of Your mighty hand that protects, guides, heals and loves! Thank you Jesus for Your sacrifice and love shed on the cross for me and for all those with your loving breath in their lungs. I pray for my team and I overflow with love as we press onward in Botswana and Namibia. I love You and praise You for how deep Your love is. All this I pray in your precious Son’s name. Amen.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1