I have to admit this time around on
my world race experience my blog writing has been severely lacking. Between walking alongside and leading
40 people, traveling to different teams, and doing in country ministry the
emotional and physical effort it takes to put my heart on a page has been
almost non-existent. That being
said, I love to write. It fuels
me, helps me process, and is a creative outlet that keeps me going. It is part of what creates my oxygen.
Oxygen: the substance that sustains
you. It keeps one going, alive,
moving, and free. I have realized
in taking care of and pouring into everyone else around me I have neglected my
own oxygen, leaving my lips blue and body weak.
This concept is something we have been talking about a lot
lately as a squad. At our month 2 squad
debrief, Betsy Garmon spoke on this idea.
Our whole squad sat at attention, leaning into her words as she taught
on the things that form who we are, outside and inside forces that form our
identity. She pointed out that in
emergency situations on airplanes we are always instructed to put our oxygen
mask on ourselves before helping those around us. You see if we don’t, we wind up blue,
lying on the floor, unable to save other people or ourselves.
Often times we live in a society of
oxygen starved, blue people, gasping for air, and desperate to feel a deep life
giving breath fill their lungs. We
are busy with schedules, responsibilities, obligations, and yes even volunteer
or missionary work. Often we are
so busy fulfilling expectations and helping others that we forget what we need
to be sustained to be fully alive.
We are blue, on the floor, gasping, tired and weak, but can’t understand
why life and the day to day seems so hard and draining. God created us all uniquely with gifts,
talents, and passions. When we
operate in these things we not only bring vibrancy to ourselves, but to those
around us. We were created to
experience the fullness of Christ, which I believe includes living fully as the
unique person He created you to be for the glory of His kingdom. God desires us to be fully alive, fully
free, and thriving to display the beauty and vibrancy of who He is within us.
I’ve realized it’s not selfish to
take some time to make sure I am breathing. In fact, when I live in my giftings and passions, in the
things that make me come fully alive, I light a spark that catches fire to
those around me. I am able to
serve better, love bigger, proclaim who God is more boldly when I am no longer
struggling to breathe. It opens the door for me to live in the fullness of who He is, thriving in the life the Lord desires for me. So here I am, I
have taken a deep breath, air is filling my lungs, oxygen coursing through my
veins. Life is beginning to surge
through this once tired and blue body and it feels so good.
What is your oxygen?
What makes you come alive? Are you living fully as the person God
created you to be?
God’s beauty displayed on the beaches of El Salvador
Amazing tree I found in a park we visited in Honduras. Perfect spot to journal and spend some time with the Lord!!!
