Our time in Hong Kong has been great!!
Although very expensive, Hong Kong is a lovely city and I had a great week!
Debrief in Hong Kong has been amazing! It has been intense and hard but extremely freeing!!
I have been going through a patch where I have been wanting to go deeper – but I felt something was holding me back. I had a heaviness on my heart that I could not shake. I tried and tried to pin point what exactly was wrong and I couldn’t. It was effecting me to a point where I could not even really be myself.
This weekend God revealed to me that I was holding on to unforgiveness of someone who had hurt me deeply. The reason it was so hard for me to pin point was I was in denial of what was going on. pretending I was fine. I was believing lies about who I am as well as what my future holds. I was so tired of carrying it – I needed to let it go! I was able to forgive — and I can not even describe to you how freeing that is! I feel two tons lighter!
Why do I hold on to things so tightly that are crap? Hold on to lies? Hold onto the past and glorify it — dude Egypt sucks! The journey to the promise land may be hard, trying, scary, exhausting at times but it is a life lived in freedom!! It is for freedom that Christ has set you free! For a relationship with Him. Yes, these are things that I knew in my head — but in my heart do I really believe that is all God wants from me?
We all know if is about a relationship with God and that is all he wants from us, yet we fill our lives with “good deeds” thinking that will make us good little Christians. It goes back to the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt 25) they did all these things in Christ’s name but yet they did not KNOW Him.
I was also convicted about how I love others. Getting back to the basics — getting so caught up in doing I often put the cart before the horse. Without love I am nothing (2 Cor 13). How can I say I love God yet I can not love the people who he has put in front of me?
It is so simple, yet I make things so complicated. He has created us to live an abundant life! OK I know I getting carried away…. but I love it!!
On other notes:
Tonight we say goodbye to the January World Racers. They are finished with their race and will be returning home on Monday. I will miss seeing them at debriefs greatly! They have been such a huge blessing and I have appreciated their friendships! I am excited to see where they go from here. Know that you are loved and will be missed my friends!!
Also I want to Thank Lisa and Gary, Seth and Caren, and Andrew for coming out to for debrief. It was like a much needed breath of fresh air swept through! Love you guys!!!!! Thanks for kicking us in the butt and loving us through it!
We are going to be venturing into a closed country for the next month and will not be able to have any computer access. We will be going to the Philippines on the 22 of December and I will be able to contact people after that.
I hope you all have a great month!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
My address for the Holidays:
Gabrielle Rodgers
c/o Jeff Long
Faith Academy
PO Box 2016
0706 MCPO
Makati City
Philippines
