I totally forgot to post this at Launch in Atlanta, so here are my thoughts before the race.
If you’ve ever seen the movie Hook with Robin Williams, then you know exactly what this quote means. For those of you out there that might be looking at my blog thinking that my phone must have autocorrected, I actually typed out the word apostrophe. In the movie Hook, Captain Hook’s first mate, Smee, freezes in a moment of inspiration. He says that he thinks he has an idea. “I’ve just had an apostrophe” he says as Hook corrects him and says “I think you mean an epiphany Smee.” Well I’ve had an apostrophe of my own. I have realized that God is literally always there for me, even when I don’t see it. I am the first one to admit that it’s so easy for me to forget how good God has been to me at the first sign of trouble. It seems like I’ve been abandoned, I’ve been abandoned because I didn’t follow God’s plan, and I didn’t follow His plan because I’m not good enough. It’s so easy to think that. But the reality is that He is always there. Even when you can’t feel him.
When I found out about the World Race I was so excited to be a vagabond traveler, wear the same shirt for 3 months, and somehow climb a mountain where I then snap a picture of a rare snow cat that has never been pictured before. But alas, the more I read about the World Race that was not the case. This journey I am about to embark on is an intense discipleship program that combines missions with growth. It involves intimacy and dependency with the Lord, but also with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. This crazy journey isn’t an 11 month vacation where we also get to do mission work. I have given up my independent culture for one that thrives on openness and vulnerability with my team, leaders, and the Lord. My squad’s mission statement is “We are the church and Kingdom is our culture.”
My apostrophe is a simple one. I am going to look for the Lord everyday. I am challenging myself to put aside a moment a day to find where God has moved in my day. I have been so blind to his involvement in the past 6 months of my fundraising, and I am done with that nonsense. Every crummy situation that I thought was meaningless pain was actually pulling me towards this crazy trip. God is not only a God of provision, but extravagant provision. He wants to shower you with his love, but it’s hard to see it if you’re buried in your phones and Netflix everyday and every night trying to drown out the memories of the day. When you drown out the day, you end up drowning out God as well. He wants to provide for you and give you opportunities you never thought you could be a part of, but you must listen for them!
So this is why I have decided to spend time everyday looking and listening for what he is speaking into my day. How is he wanting to provide for you today? Who is he going to put into your path today? What is he going to challenge you with? Because God cares about your growth. He wants to show you new things, but that requires growth. Growth that is sometimes hard, but always necessary. As I challenge myself with this I cannot help but want to backspace this whole post. It’s a big commitment to take on, but I know that looking for God in my life will open up new and exciting aspects of change. I also am going to challenge you to this. I cannot wait to hear all of the stories of what this challenge has changed in your life! I hope you all take my apostrophe and make it your own. So this is Elizabeth Hahn, signing off from World Race Launch in Atlanta, Georgia.
