Exodus 3:11,14
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am . [b] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “
18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said:
“Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?
22 “How great you are, O
Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you,
as we have heard with our own ears.
15 “But Lord , [a] ” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
…one morning at camp Di (one of our two amazing squad leaders) pulled me aside and told me that the World Race leaders had been praying about raising up 6 team leaders for ouR squad. She said that they’d already been impressed by my character and leadership abilities at camp and that I was being invited to a meeting that would talk more about what a team leader was. She asked me to pray and seek the Lord about stepping into this unique position of team leader for the coming year.
I was so shocked and humbled by everything she said and completely surprised that they thought I’d be able to lead a team of 6 girls across the world.
My first thought was NO WAY…this is going to be HARD and WHO AM I (sound familiar?) to lead this incredible group? However, as I prayed about it Jesus kept bringing memories from random times in my life in the past, memories of being a student leader in Mexico- the good and the bad- memories of being an RA in college- memories of stepping out in faith in China-
So clearly and so gently, I felt that Jesus was saying “See Carly…I’ve been preparing you for this all along…you’re right you CANT do this on your own….BUT I (the Creator of the world) CAN…I will NEVER leave you or forsake you (Joshua 1:9)….in fact I’ve already been going ahead and preparing the way for you and your team to come…TRUST ME…I’ll be with you every step of the way”
SO…..Here I am the crazy “city-girl” from Columbus who’s never camped in her life…ready to lead this rag tag team of amazing women who love the Lord with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength into the unknown!
Already, I have been learning so much about what it means to be a “leader”- it means being a SERVANT, being the last and serving in humility and selflessness, it means being quiet so that everyone’s voice be heard on the team, it means seeking discernment from the Lord in EVERY second of EVERY day about EVERYthing! PRAY that I can learn to walk in all of this…daily…I truly am so excited to see how God grows me in this new season of leadership. Just as he took the unlikely Moses, David, Gideon, Joshua and so many others and used them…I look forward to being challenged, stretched, and grown as a leader through this adventure!
This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
The Lord has given me such a heart for each of the beautiful women on my team, I cannot wait to share with you who they are…
….in the next blog post 🙂 stay tuned!
My Teammates 2007 Shijiazhuang China
