It’s day 3 of Launch, and oh, I am LOVING it so much.
T-Squad is where it’s at. My team is such a blessing. We are learning so much about each other. We are learning the art something the World Race calls Feedback. We are learning how to honor one another above ourselves. We are learning to call each other into who God created us and, as hard as it can be, it is so good. Being in this environment has already proved the goodness of the Father who cares so deeply for his children.
Also, we officially fly out to ROMANIA tomorrow night. And so it begins.
Today we were presented with somewhat of a challenge in our afternoon session. We were sent out to different areas around our hotel to, as the Race culture calls it, ATL-Ask the Lord. It’s simply what it sounds like. Just ask the Lord where he wants us to go, who he wants us to serve, and take a risk on what he places on our hearts.
Now I’ve heard about this ATL thing from blogs and, if I am being honest, have been a litttttttttle bit skeptical. God also quickly revealed to me that I have been lacking some faith in trusting his voice.
So before our team went out we asked the Lord and I specifically asked God for a vision…just to, you know, “test it out.”
And I got one.
What I saw was an older African American lady on her front porch who needed prayer. I had a feeling someone was sick. Her house was on the right side of the street.
With a hint of honest skepticism, I told my team about it and one of my teammates, Brette, said she kept hearing the word “prayer.”
Another teammate, Nicole, had a feel of the general area we needed to go to.
So we starting walking. And walking. And walking. We weren’t even around any houses and I was starting to think that it was simply my imagination that created the vision. As doubts kept creeping in I kept asking God that if this was a vision from him, that it would be made clear and if it wasn’t, that the image would be dropped from my memory.
We finally came across a neighborhood and started to meander through the streets. We took many different turns and came to a street called Corville Drive when Jill (our fantastic Team Leader) said, “We need to go down here.”
So we did. About 4 houses down on the right was an older African American lady on her front porch WAVING AT US. Literally WAVING.
(This is about when I began to hyperventilate)
God quickly dispelled all doubts and made it OVERTLY clear that this was the lady in my vision. My mind has now blown. I mean she was waving to us from her porch! I can't make stuff like this up, yall.
We walked over to her and quickly found out that she had been having asthma attacks (had one right before we got there, which was why she was on the front porch trying to get fresh air) and her daughter was on her way to pick her up to take her to the hospital for treatment. We asked if we could pray over her which she agreed to. It was such an honor to bring her before the Lord. We stayed for a bit, talked with her, and learned more about her story. Her transparency and faithfulness was an unbelievable encouragement. We got to know a few of her neighbors as well. We said our goodbyes to our new friends, walked around the corner and sat in complete shock and thankfulness for how God showed up. Below is a picture of our sweet new friend, Deborah.
(Photo Cred: Terin James)
Moral of the story: God speaks. God reveals. God heals.
We just have to be willing to listen to the Father, trust his voice, and take the risk.
What has He been telling you lately? What are some things you need to take a risk on?
