“Awakening”: to rouse from sleep; to rise up from disease, lying down, death, obscurity, inactivity, ruins, non-existence; to lift up, raise up, rear up; to rise up, stand up, take up
What is your awakening?
Until my storytelling group came up with interview questions to ask members of our squads, I had never thought about the word “awakening”. Yes, I knew the event we were a part of was called The Awakening (side note: 4 squads, including mine, crossed paths in Thailand and came together to learn and grow and serve), but I had never actually pondered what the word meant and the significance it had in my life. But, God has definitely awakened truths in me over the past 9 months on the Race. He has awakened the confidence and security that had been lying dormant for most of my life. He has awakened joy that isn’t based on circumstances. He has broken chains and awakened freedom. Most recently He has been awakening leadership. Through 3 different encounters in the first week of being in Thailand, He showed me that He (and others) saw me as a leader, even if I didn’t want to be a leader or didn’t view myself that way. He revealed that I lead with humility and that my words are viewed as being well thought out. Traits that I had once viewed as negative were now shown to me in a new light. I now view them as positive and given to me for a purpose, although never in a million years did I think that purpose had anything to do with being a leader. Much to my surprise, people continued to say that I would be a good leader, and I knew that God was soon going to give me a leadership position on our squad. And, NOT to my surprise, He did. I am now a team leader, and will be for the last two months of my Race. I was appointed by members of my squad and then approved by our leadership team. This is not something I ever imagined would happen, nor was it a position I ever wanted. Yet it is a position that God wanted for me, for reasons I’m still figuring out. This new awakening that is happening in my life is scary, that’s for sure. I have never led my peers. I have never led former and current leaders. I have never made travel decisions in a foreign country. New awakenings mean new challenges to overcome and new lies to fight (or old ones to continue fighting). Despite the fear, I am excited to step into this role, a role unlike any I have ever had before. I know that this is the next step in my journey, and it is a step that is going to produce so much growth in my life. Whatever my future holds, learning to lead well is always a good “skill” to have, and I’m looking forward to figuring out what that looks like for me. I hope to be able to look back and see that I led from behind by empowering the members of my team. I want to be able to say that I was bold and not afraid to fail. I want to know that no matter what happened, I looked to God for guidance and relied on His strength and direction and not my own.
***Stay tuned! There may be a part 3 to this blog…you never know!
