Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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Hours before I said goodbye to 2012 and welcomed 2013 I started to reflect on this last year and I had a little freak out moment. 2012 was a time of preparation and adventure.  My world was turned upside down and my comfort zone was stretched!    I realized that even though I have experienced more in these last 4 months then I could have ever imagined, I keep finding myself wanting turning back to my old ways.  I sat at the table during worship frustrated because I was hitting a wall and I can’t get around it and break it down. 

 

I started questioning if what I was learning these last months were really true? 
Is God really jealous for my time with Him? 
Do I really belong on this squad?  
Does God really find me beautiful?
Am I worth being loved and accepted?   
Should I really be on this race if I am having such doubts?  
 
One of my amazing squad mates was leading us in worship and she said
“What do you want your 2013 to be written about.  We have a chance to make this year the start of something new!”  
It was like God was standing there and speaking right at me.  He reminded me that I chose to put my YES on the table and follow Him for the year and I need to stop trying to take it back!
 
But how do I do this???  What does putting my YES on the table really look like?

I opened my bible and I turned to 2 Corinthians 4:7-18. For some reason I started at verse 18 and made my way up the chapter.

 

Verse 18 says:
“As we look NOT to the things that are SEEN but to the things that are UNSEEN.  For the things that are seen are transient but the things that are unseen are eternal!”

Then I read verse 7:
“We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and NOT to us.”

Last I read verse 5:  
“For what we proclaim is not ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. “

Talk about getting hit by a spiritual 2×4!  I think I was starting to realize what my YES really meant:    

 

That YES means I gave God the RIGHT to radically change me.

That YES gave God the RIGHT to put me in a small town in the Dominican Republic to live with a family who didn’t speak the same language.

That YES gave God the RIGHT to put me in a house in Haiti and have my safety taken away as men walked into our home while we slept.

That YES gave God the RIGHT to put me in a busy city in Thailand and work in a coffee house.

That YES gave God the RIGHT to put me in the juggles of Malaysia to live with the monkeys and rats.

That YES gave God the RIGHT to put me on a team where I started breaking down my walls but after 3 months placed me on a new team.

That YES gave God the RIGHT to put me on a new team and desired me to keep growing and to love them just as much as my old team.

That YES gave God the RIGHT to have me deal with spreadsheets, numbers and the responsibility of making sure there is money to buy food and toilet paper. 

That YES gave God the RIGHT to have me experience homesickness.

That YES gave God the RIGHT to have me receive love and show love to contacts in each country.
That YES gave God the RIGHT to be patient with me and to show me how much He truly loves me.

That YES gave God the RIGHT to say ‘Ashley you got this…you can finish the race!’

 
My YES can’t be a come and go deal.  If I want to make 2013 the year Ashley becomes a True Women of God then I need to wake up every day and put my Yes on the table.   I have this JAR OF CLAY filled with God’s power.   I have to share it because it just doesn’t just belong to me. Putting my YES on the table means I am putting down myself and PROCLAIMING that Jesus Christ is LORD!!!
 
Doing this is not easy, and I know there will be days that I fail. But I must remember that my YES isn’t giving up my life….BUT I am gaining Life in Jesus!!!