Freedom.
Freedom is the word that the Lord has been speaking over me since Month 3 in Cambodia. Through the unknown adventure of support raising: freedom; through the laughter with my team: freedom; through the pain of seeing and serving countries that have gone through so much hurt and brokenness: freedom; through my own personal heartbreak: freedom.
And in the season of life that was Cambodia and Thailand, the Lord showed me more freedom than I could’ve expected.
In Nepal the Lord ushered me into this new season of freedom, by taking away some of the weight I was carrying around from my past. He gave me a vision of his hands outstretched waiting to take it all; every burden that I had been carrying; every hurt; every bit of shame, guilt, and doubt of who I am as His daughter. He was waiting for it; and he wasn’t intimidated or disappointed by my pain. He wasn’t just seeing my pain, he was entering into it.
At debrief a few days ago, I was reminded of this freedom that Jesus began in me. Something I said to my friend and squad leader Erika in Nepal while we sat outside in the rain after I had told her about this vision was “I feel so much freedom right now I don’t know what to do with it.” And that was a beautiful thing that I got to experience and walk through with the Lord throughout these past couple months. I went through some deep hurt in Cambodia, but His freedom was so present and worth chasing after. And Thailand was so many different emotions, so many times that the Lord spoke clearly to me, and the hard realization that if I choose in to loving well, fully, and fiercely for the rest of my life, that heartbreak is going to be a constant thing; because the more we seek after the Father’s heart, the more he teaches us what His love looks like, the more our hearts begin to break for what breaks His. It’s not just something we sing about in worship songs; it’s a choice we have to make to choose in to what the Father is doing around us in a way that it moves and breaks our hearts. It’s something that’s so hard, but so worth it.
Then God spoke powerfully into my life at debrief. As I was talking to Erika again, He moved in my heart and told me “yes, you have so much freedom. But Casey, you DO know what to do with it” He showed me that it’s time for me to walk into confidence and authority in who I am created to be as a daughter and woman of God. He wants me to stop settling for second best and to choose in and choose the hard things. And to surrender my heart and my expectations to the plans He has for me.
Where will this lead me? I have no idea. And I love that. It’s a time for me to stop worrying whether my Bachelor’s Degree will take me anywhere and instead focus on where the Father is taking me. To really sell out to this call to follow after Jesus with my whole heart. To abandon, to be broken, and to walk boldly into whatever He has for me.
“For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)
So with this new freedom and new season I’m excited to announce that I have a new team! I get to do life with five other beautiful women of God who are so ready to take on the newness of these next few months of the World Race. I have been raised up as a Team Leader, so I have the absolute honor of leading them.
This team is so new that I haven’t even fully shared with them all that I’ve shared in this blog. But that doesn’t matter, nor does it surprise me one bit or strike me as coincidence that when we picked a team name there was no hesitation in the room. So with that, I introduce you into this new season of my life; into this new season of serving, and into this new team….
Team Freedom.
Thank-you for walking with me through this journey. My team and I are in northern Malaysia serving with a really great ministry teaching English, helping plan a big event for their school, and just doing life together in community as a new team. I’m on my final financial deadline, and I only need $4000 to be fully funded! It’s amazing to see how the Lord has provided, and I want to thank everyone who has contributed. I’m praying for this deadline to be met this month so I can be fully present in what the Lord is doing here. No matter what, it has to be met before the end of December for me to continue on the World Race. Will you prayerfully consider supporting me? If just 40 people donate $100, I’m there! If you would like to donate, go to the “Support Me” tab on the left side of this blog. Thank-you!
Until next time,
Casey
