Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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**Before I start I wanted you all to know, the things I write here in this blog are for two reasons. These are all things I am going through and learning but also very much so words/challenges/encouragement for you. You ALL have blessed and touched my life in so many ways. Thank you for you endless support and encouragment!!!**
 
….After running on the beach last week I sat on some rocks to be silent and look at the beautiful, vast ocean, gorgeous beach, and setting sun…i felt so safe, warm ,and content….this thought came to my head “I could stay right here, I could continue to stand on the shore”. As I gazed out into the deep, unknown ocean I knew it represented the World Race for me. The shore is predictable and safe. But the ocean holds so much depth to it, it cannot possibly be fully known or fully understood….much like the Lord’s plans and his will for our lives….The picture of standing on the shore or diving into the ocean can be applied to many different situations you may be going through in life…school, a hard conversation, loving someone in your life, your job, relationships with your parents or with your children, forgiveness, or even choosing to accept and love yourself….This life was not meant to be lived as a spectator sport.  We need to get deep into the living water to experience it. Many times I do not feel the attack of the enemy when I stand on the shore, playing it safe, putting up my walls…it is when I dive in deep that I feel the enemy and my own human fears working together…But then there is someone else too, stronger than the enemy or myself, I feel God moving, growing, and shaping me when I dive in deep…
 
There is Beauty Beneath the Waves

 
The waves crash over me
Pulling me down with such intensity
I feel I’ll never reach the top
Pressing me from all sides
Mostly I feel it in my heart,
The worst place of all to feel the relentless crashing waves
 
The enemy knows what he does
Knows the waves to send to inflict pain
Knows what will cause me to stumble
He sees my weaknesses and my fears
He sends the waves and feels no remorse
 
Lord I will not be defeated, not with you by my side
For although I may feel pain and hurt for a while,
I know that you work all things for the good of those who love you
I will cry out to you
Hear my cry; do not turn your face
 
Rescue me, as you always do in your time
Lord your love is great
I know of your unfailing love for your people
And I feel your never-ending love for me
 
Remind me, although I may be in a time
 where breaths are not easily won,
Remind me to be calm and be patient
Because beneath the waves, I feel your arms
Beneath the waves you tell me, I am with you
Beneath the waves you tell me, be still
Beneath the waves you tell me, I am yours
Beneath the waves you tell me, I love you
Beneath the waves you come to my rescue
 
You alone can still the storm in my heart
Precious Redeemer you can calm the waves
Faithful God you give me breath when I feel there is none
Mighty Lord you hush the tormenting winds
Beautiful Father you wrap me in your arms and hold me tight
Glorious Maker, you give me your words
Words that run across my heart when I am in distress
Lord create in me a most patient heart
A heart that continues to seek you
And runs after you with a passion that runs deep
 
I will continue to praise you Father,
Continue to sing of your unfailing love
You are Lord of all
 
It may seem beneath the waves, there is no good…
How wrong is that thought
For you have shown us what happens to things beneath the waves…
Beneath the waves there is molding, beauty, sculpting, brokenness
Lessons only learned in the water, not on the shore,
Transforming, changing, and reshaping
 
Then when washed upon the shore…
What we find is a beautiful, pure, magnificent, unique,
Perfect shell that you have transformed beneath the waves
And when the time was right, you brought it up from beneath the waves,
Shining with a beauty only given by your touch
A beauty that only comes from being humbled and low
Not proud and raised high
 
Beneath the waves is a beautiful place where transformation happens
Yes it can be a time of confusion, uncertainty, fear, anguish, distress, and hardship
But it is through these things you teach me to rely on you
Allow you to shape and change my heart and my ways
And after my time beneath the waves
 
You will bring me up and set me upon the shore

Sparkling with a beauty I would not have known

Had I never been beneath the waves
There is beauty beneath the waves
                                                                    Let us never forget Lord…
 
There is a beautiful song you all should listen to if you too can identify with diving deep into unknown waters, into something that may be difficult and hard, but the blessings and growth that come from the experience or choice are amazing!!
             “My heart is racin’ and my knees are weak as I walk to the edge, I know there is no turning back once my feet have left the ledge,  And in the rush I hear a voice, it’s telling me it’s time to, Take the leap of faith ..So here I go…I’m diving in, I’m going deep, In over my head I wanna be, Caught in the rush, Lost in the flow, In over my head I wanna go, The river’s deep, The river’s wide, The river’s water is alive, So sink or swim, I’m diving in”
                      ~By: Steven Curtis Chapman   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DEbi221h10