25 days. It has
been 25 days since my tired, well-traveled, passionate, Jesus loving feet set
foot in American soil. 25 days
since my squad sang the national anthem as the plane touched down in New York
City. 25 days since my passport
was stamped signifying my reentry to the states. 25 days since heart-wrenching
goodbyes while leaving my people, my tribe, my family I had spent my whole year
with. It has now been 25 days that
I have been trying to figure out how I fit back into my life here in
America. 25 days of trying to process
the last year, which at this point feels like a dream. 25 days of joy, frustration, sadness,
being overwhelmed and speechless, but also having immense gratitude for all God
has blessed me with. 25 days of staring
at a blank word document struggling to write the very blog you are reading.
How do you sum up the accumulation of moments, laughter,
brokenness, growth, love, and surrender that is the World Race? How can you ever really express what
you have seen, the hands you have held, the tears you have cried, the prayers
that you prayed, the freedom you have found, the miracles you witnessed, and
the person you have become? How do
you share the ways in which you have seen God show up time and time again in
power, but also in the stillness? The
answer is I don’t know. I don’t
know what to say or where to begin when someone asks, “How was your trip?� or
the dreaded question “So what’s next?�
I don’t have the answers to so many of the questions I am being
asked. I don’t know where God is
leading me. I don’t know what the
right choice is or if there even is a right choice. I don’t know a lot of things right now, but I would like to
share with you what I do know, the Truth I was unaware of before living 11
months of my life on the World Race.
I now know that I want this for life, a life dependent on
the creator, open to His voice, living by the Spirit, serving boldly, bringing
intentional kingdom encounters to those around me. I was created for a purpose and want to live in a way
in which my life makes a difference for the Kingdom. My purpose is SIMPLE:
Love radically the way that God calls me to, walk daily as the person He
created me to be, and draw nearer to Him moment by moment. I now know I am a bringer of
TRUTH, HOPE, and LOVE because of the one who lives inside of me. I am a BELOVED
daughter of God. He chose me as
His. I am fully known and fully loved.
My words have power and I can use them to inspire and activate others. I
impact those around me because they see Christ in me. I love boldly and courageously. I am a leader.
I AM FREE from all the bondage that once held me down. I no longer need your approval to be
confident in who I am because I KNOW THE TRUTH of who God created me to be and
choose to rest in it.
I now know that my passion and calling is this: to bring a
young generation into their Identity and Freedom through Christ. My deepest hearts desire is to see
people, young women specifically, come to know who they are in Christ, who He
created them to be, and to walk daily living out of the freedom and abundant life He
gives us. I have come to realize
that we are living in a world where we are constantly bombarded with people
telling us what we are, who we should be, and where we should go. Girls are taught that their worth lies
in their image, in what they can give away, and in how many things they
have. We have a whole GENERATION of
youth (including my gen and younger) that have no idea who God, the one who
created them, says they are. What
would it look like for a whole generation to grasp what it means to be child of
God and to walk in the confidence that brings? What if we all knew that we are co-heirs of Christ, that we
share in a Kingdom inheritance, that we have the Spirit of the living God
living inside of us, and that WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN EQUIPPED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
IN THIS WORLD? What would it look like if a generation learned to get over
entitlement and loved generously and boldly? What would it look like to have generation of young men and
women to stand up and say that injustice in this world is NOT OK because God
called us to a different standard?
What would it look like for young men and women to live knowing that God
has given them His righteousness, even in the midst of all their junk? What would it look like for people to
know that God has given them His love, joy, power, and nature inside of them so
they can use it NOW, here on this earth, in their lifetime?
So I ask you this; Who are you and what is your
purpose? You are not defined by
your job or what others label you as.
You are not defined by the accumulation of mistakes or even triumphs of
your life. You are not defined by
your social status, the way you look, or the things you have. What does your creator say about
YOU? Yes, you, as an individual,
but also because He calls you His own. If you don’t know, my encouragement is
this: He thinks so many things of
you, He has great plans for you, and loves you more than you could ever know. He created you with a PURPOSE. If you don’t know what it is, WHAT ARE
YOU WAITING FOR?!?!?! We are dead
without a purpose, lost when we have no direction. Go and intentionally figure out why you were created. Abundant life is waiting, it’s calling
you out, and knocking at your door.
I will leave you with the words Jesus speaks to the dead girl before she
rises to life… “Talitha Khoum� which means get up little girl and LIVE!
Don’t worry Mom, its just Sharpie 🙂
