Hey there friends—Apologies on being very late to the blogging game! Every time I sat down to write, nothing would come. Turns out, this is what I am supposed to be writing about. Better late than never 🙂
I cannot believe it’s 2017. It’s a new year and I am in the fourth country of my Race. Finally, the Race is becoming “normal”. I thought that feeling would never come!
It’s been about two weeks since being in the Philippines and my team and I have been going non-stop from the day we landed. This month we are partnering with a ministry named Go Ministries. We have the opportunity to go into different schools, both elementary and high school, to preach the Gospel from classroom to classroom. How many times in life, especially this day in age, do we get to walk into public schools to preach about the good news of Jesus Christ? The greatest part is this– kids are getting saved!!!! And they are hungry for more. Just like I was when I was that age.
I remember always being so curious about God when I was their age. Having the opportunity to share these awesome news has made me reflect on all that Jesus has done in my life. It’s actually an amazing story. It’s a story of redemption. It’s a story of hope. It’s a story of restoration. And it’s a story of how Jesus took a girl who didn’t know who she was or what her purpose was in life and turned her into (spoiler alert!) a strong, confident purposeful daughter of the most-high King. I can’t help but get all smiley when I think about everything He has done for me! Especially now. Being here in the Philippines has got me reflecting on how much growth I’ve done just within the past year. But here’s the kicker- I had to say YES.
To give you a better idea of my “yes”, I want to share with you some of my story:
As most teenagers, I struggled with self-identity. I wanted to be loved and accepted by my peers so I followed the crowd even when I knew it was wrong. Unfortunately, this led me down a pretty dark path going into my college years. So dark that I had eventually fallen into a hole of addiction to prescription pills for almost six years. This was something I kept to myself for many years. I kept it in the dark from everyone. After many attempts to stop using on my own, I grew more and more ashamed and saw no end to the darkness. I was a slave to addiction and anxiety, unable to break the chains that were wrapped so tightly around me, yet unwilling to surrender.
Later, still struggling with addiction, I began attending church on a regular basis. The more I was talking about earlier was growing inside of me. I wanted more. The Lord was beginning to call my name so loudly; I had no choice but to listen. He wanted to give me more! This was when I truly began to understand what the Gospel meant for my life. Jesus Christ, who knew no sin came and died to free me from what had entangled me for so long.
Fast forward to present day– This time last year, I was 16 days out from having one of the largest breakthroughs of my life. Overcoming addiction. Consider this my D-Day (deliverance day). Chains were broken! And the desire was taken away entirely! I went from looking in the mirror and not recognizing the person staring back at me to truly finding my identity in Christ; He gave me life. He calls me chosen. He calls me beautiful. He calls me strong and passionate. He calls me leader, loved, wise, covered, forgiven, new, daughter, beloved, and perfect. The list could go on forever! He gave me new desires. New dreams. New hopes. He made me into a new creation!
New Year’s day 2016 was the day I said “yes” to the Lord and He showed Himself to be faithful. When I said yes to His plan, God provided the perfect pathway to healing. He then gave me the confidence to share my full testimony to over one thousand people. He gave me the best community I could ever dream of to walk with me in that season. And when the World Race came about, I thought it was really cool but there was no way I could ever do anything like that. However, God had different plans. He was the one to give me this crazy idea of quitting my job (one of which I really loved) to go and do this even crazier adventure called the World Race. Eleven countries in eleven months seemed nuts. But I said yes. And holy smokes did He provide in more ways than I can count! There were times when I was overwhelmed and didn’t think it was possible yet I kept saying yes.
The craziest part of all, one year later, I am sitting on the front porch of a house in the Philippines celebrating my one-year of sobriety and more importantly, my newfound freedom in Christ. AND IT FEELS SO DANG GOOD! I’m shameless. Free. Finally my identity lies in Him and He’s growing me in that identity every single day.
Friends, as I share this part of my story with you, celebrate with me in all that Christ has done!!! I’ve been sharing my story so much this month, I couldn’t not share with my supporters. My hope is that this encourages you as much as it does me. Because the truth is, for my life, there is no life without Him.
Lastly, I am $2,900 away from being FULLY FUNDED! My final deadline is January 31st. If you would like to contribute to my fund, you can do so by clicking Donate.
