On October 25th I turned 23.
It was a beautiful day filled with beautiful friends, spent at the ocean, one of my favorite places. A place where I feel God’s presence so strongly and where I am reminded that God created and delights in every detail about me, similarly to how he knows each individual grain of sand on the beach.
The morning began with a sunrise worship session at the Black Sea in Varna, Bulgaria. My team, Beloveds met up with another World Race team, the Tovs. Together, we sat on the beach, sang, prayed, and enjoyed a simple morning in fellowship. After worshiping together, one of my best friends on the Race, Savannah baptized me in the ocean, as the sun began to peak out over us. It was an experience I will cherish and hold close for the rest of my days. Being able to celebrate my earthy and heavenly birthday with people who love me so well, was so special.
Before my baptism, one of the girls on the Tovs, Paige, prayed and spoke truth over me. She told me that last month in Romania, during a one on one with one of the members of our leadership, they asked her if she had ever had a conversation with me. We really hadn’t spoken much to each other, but our leadership told her to expect us to have an important conversation together sometime soon. All last month in Romania during All Squad, she had expected to hear a word from God for me. But, she never received it. 5 days before we traveled to Varna for my birthday and my baptism, the memory of that talk was brought back into her mind. This was before she even knew we were traveling to Varna. The day before my birthday she received a word of truth for me, before she knew her team and my team would be meeting up, or that my baptism would be the next morning. The timing of this word from God given to Paige for me was a gift from the Father so I could be reminded of how God delights in all the details of my life. He wanted to make this day so special for me, and he flexed his God muscles and made it happen.
The word Paige spoke over me was tenacity.
A characteristic of the Father encompassing patience, steadfastness, persistence, diligence and relentlessness. When placed in a human it allows the ability to cling to belief without doubting. It cultivates a set kind of faith; determination that doesn’t waiver.
Jesus was so sweet to me that morning.
He reminded me how loved I am.
And that he intimately knows me, every detail, from the deepest desires in my heart, to the number of hairs on my head.
So, here’s to my 23rd year, a year that the majority will be well-spent continuing to serve our God all around the world.
XOXO Elizabeth
