A Prescription for

It actually began with me in the
Philippines. God revealed to both David and I that we were going to
separate for the month that we were in Thailand. Before my arrival here
in Thailand the Lord showed me that part of my ministry this month was
going to be the women on my team and not just the girls in the bars. Up
to this point there have been some points on this race of amazing
connection between my teammates and me but there has also been a
separation between me as the “married girl” and the rest of the girls on
the team. This is something we’ve all noticed and been working on since
the beginning of the race and it has slowly improved but still there
has been a bit of a “connection gap”. So with that being the foremost
direction in my spirit, the Lord took me deeper into his beautiful
conviction teaching me all over again about the proper alignment of
priorities; God first, family and then ministry.

This year the family or community God has placed me in is my World
Race team. And I am learning all over again that if I can’t love, work
through things and pour into my teammates then how can I expect to
effectively minister to anyone else. The Bible says over and over and
over again to love one another. God wasn’t instructing us to love our
enemies, as he specifically stated that when he gave us the Ten
Commandments and later in the Gospels. He wasn’t telling us to just love
the people we are drawn to or the people it is easy to be around. He
said to love one another. That means if you’re looking at them you get
to love ’em. If we’re honest we’d all have to admit that sometimes the
people God places us with, either at work or in a family, are sometimes
the hardest to love. And usually, they are the ones that we are stuck
with for life or at least a season.

Thinking back to my childhood I remember my brother and I fighting
nonstop, to the point that we drove our mother up the wall. It would
typically start off with one aggravating the other and then from there
it would grow into to a full blown shouting match. Mom would usually let
us duke it out for a while and then step in just before we started
tackling each other. She would then tell us how it didn’t matter who was
right or wrong but the fact that we couldn’t work it out made us both
wrong. She would simply say “guys, you have to choose to love each
other”. It took my brother and I a good long while before we took hold
of that truth but somewhere in there we began to see the good things in
each other and I now consider my brother one of my very best and trusted
friends.

The bible says:”I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat fall
to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies,
it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while
the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
(John 12:24) Basically what I’m trying to convey is that my team is my
“prescribed soil”; something that agitates the seed in me enough to
produce life – fruit. Our team went through some pretty tough things
last month in Malaysia but we also began to see each other the way God
sees each of us. I’m certainly not an expert at loving or ministering to
my friends, family or teammates but when I ask God to let me see people
the way he sees them, then a glorious transformation takes place inside
of me. They don’t change. I do. And that is where true love happens.
Allow me to introduce you to four amazing women that God has placed in
my life. They are the women that God has called me to minister to and
they are some of the major ingredients that make up my prescribed soil.

Liz – Liz is our resident
Girl Scout. I’m not just talking “the sell you the best mint cookies
you’ve ever tasted Girl Scout”, I’m talking “the can build a fire from
scratch in the pouring rain without matches (not kidding)” Girl Scout.
She is a seize the day kinda girl and knows how to love across many
cultures. She is super-talented at language and can whip out the newest
“how are you phrase” in a moments notice.

Monica – She’s sweet, quite
and gentle. If you need someone to listen she’s your “go to” girl!
Monica has some mad makeup skills (so if you see me looking particularly
good in a picture, she is why). She loves to laugh and sometimes will
catch you totally off guard with her funny little comments. I recently
have found myself getting stranded with her as well as nearly breaking a
DVD player with her. You just never know what’s gonna happen around
that girl and that’s the fun part! Her ability to be gracious in some
very ungracious situations transcends human nature and something out of
this world comes forth from within her. It’s amazing and it’s beautiful!

Charlotte – Our adventurous,
fun loving, goofy, Canadian. Her passion for God and love for people is
overwhelming. She takes the verse, “a merry heart is like a medicine”
and personifies it. When the rest of us get a little too serious she
pulls out her contagious, delayed laugh and joy enters the room. Her
relentless pursuit of God will shake nations and the life she brings
just by being her joy-filled-self will heal many people.

 Michelle – Our fearless
leader. This woman is a rocket for the kingdom of God! One second she’s
just sitting there like normal and the next second she’s shot off into
the atmosphere, whether through sharing the word of God or just sitting
with you through something tough. Like our Heavenly Father, she has so
many facets to her personality, you just never know what’s gonna pop out
of this woman but it’s gonna be good and god-breathed. When she steps
out in boldness change happens. And it is beautiful!

So these are my girls and I’m going to spend the next season that God
has them in my life living out: Love one another. My challenge to you
is to look around and love one another.