Even though the Race is 11 months of a consistently inconsistent environment, for some reason the changes of this past month seem to have made me feel like my life really is new all over again. It’s a weird feeling that I definitely didn’t expect. Here are a few of the new things going on in my part of the world:
1 By the grace of God, I am finally learning to stop attempting to control the things I have no control over! (aaaaaaaaand my whole family lets out a HUGE sigh of relief!) God is so good and He continues to remind me of that every day. One small example: He provided over $4,000 in ONE WEEK through amazing and gracious supporters so I could stay on the Race this year. Incredible. The only financial goal left is raising the total of $14,300 by June 1st, and I know that He will provide that with ease. So thank you so much to everyone who donated and is supporting what God is doing through me and my team! Your obedience is inspiring and really has challenged me to follow God in a new way.
2 U Squad is done with the extremely pointed yet wonderful Australian culture and we are settling back into the Asian groove of soft speech and smiles all around. I learned a lot last month about how to relate with and help people of very foreign cultures to me (both Australian and Aboriginal) as well as just love people even when it didn’t look like I was making a big difference. God has a plan for every place that he puts me in life and if I trust Him, He will do the work through what may seem like my menial bits of faith and skill. I’m constantly being reminded that “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called”. Here are just a few pictures from March, you can find more by looking at Photos from Oz
3 TEAM CHANGES! Every squad undergoes team changes once or twice during their race, to mix up the team members, create new relationships and also new ways to challenge each other and grow to be more like Christ. The Seeds team leader Jake was actually asked to become one of our new squad leaders (congrats, bro!) and the other 5 Seeds were actually kept together and blessed with a new leader, Justin! Even though my team may LOOK very similar to before, we truly ARE a new family starting this month, and it’s obvious already that God is doing new and incredible things!
L2R: Birdie, Misty, Me, Justin, Steven, Kasey
Our new team name: Fruit of the Groom.
(Yes, I know that we’re ridiculous, but I think we’re pretty funny as well!)
Why “Fruit of the Groom”?? Glad you asked:
- Since 5 of us were previously on a team that was titled “Seeds”, we wanted to keep with the theme of growth and renewal, and fruit just happened to fit the bill
- As believers we are referred to as the Bride of Christ, and since the fruit that is produced all belongs to Him, it is the “fruit of the Groom”
- We want to be a people who reflect the Fruits of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22-25 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
4 Lately I’ve been a little homesick (which isn’t normal for me) because there are just some conversations that you can’t have effectively through email or even Skype. I KNOW that I am supposed to be on this Race but that doesn’t stop the sadness from creeping in from time to time when I realize how much I’m missing back in the States. My people are graduating, having babies, growing up, getting married, changing, moving on. And although I am super glad that their world still revolves without me there, I hate that I’m not a part of it all. It is in the moments when I think about these things that doubt begins to creep in. You see, if I’ve only learned one thing about Satan, it’s that he is a pretty crafty fellow. He has watched and learned and he WILL attack when you are weak. For me, he whispers lies while I’m trying to sleep: you are not loved, you have not been healed, you haven’t made a difference in people, you will never find what you are looking for, you have hurt people too badly to be forgiven, you missed your chance. Well, I’ve heard a lot of these things over the past few days, however, God has brought me through similar situations countless times so I am now able to recognize that these truly ARE lies straight from hell. Yes, I’ve had a hard week. Honestly, it’s been really difficult for me to be joyful or to love those around me. But He reminded me tonight that when I have that natural inclination to retreat inward, to throw my own pity party and resolve to stay tearful, THAT is the exact moment when He has given me an opportunity to reach out and to show His love. As it turns out, loving people is rarely convenient. Today I don’t FEEL like I have anything to offer to anyone here, but I KNOW that there is no better time to give of myself than this very moment. When we finally get to the end of our own strength and let go of all the comforts that we think we need, that is when He uses His strength to do greater things than we even thought possible. One of my favorite songs very simply asks God two questions:
If I give it all to you will you make it all new?
If I open up my hands will You fill them again?
The answer to both of those questions (in case you don’t already know) is “YES!” God loves to make our old things new. God loves to replace the things we think we need with things that He knows we need. I see now that He calls us to let go of things that we rely on, not because they are bad things for us, but because we first need to learn to rely on Him.
Sooooo since I’m finishing this blog at well past 2 a.m. local time, I’m sending up some extra prayers in hopes that God will bring all of my scattered thoughts together and somehow make some sense out of it for all who read this 🙂 Thank you for all of your prayers!
Peace&Love
Brianna
