To anyone who has made the decision to go on Gap Year,
Thank you. Thank you for being obedient to The Lord’s call. Thank you for being apart of the revival that this generation and world will come to see. Thank you for being bold, courageous, and willing. The Lord we serve is faithful and He will show up in ways you never could have imagined this upcoming year.
A month ago, I was riding in the car with my best friend from the Race, on the way to meet up with other people from our squad, and it happened to be on the same day that Gap Year Training Camp was starting. As we drove, we covered your squads, your week, your minds, spirits, and hearts, and your upcoming year in prayer. I hope you find yourself in the same position a year from now. I hope you find yourself with the same overwhelming excitement that I have for each of you.
You have started an incredible journey. A journey that words will never do justice for. The last year of my life has been full of so much growth, goodness, richness, freedom, adventure, and a love that our human minds will never fully grasp. I want the same for you. I want you to know that Jesus is adventure, God is wild, and you are called Higher. I want you to embrace everything that this year will bring you. So here’s my advice, after four months from being back from saying the same “yes” that you have said:
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PERSPECTIVE & CHOICE – This year is 100% about your perspective. It all comes back to whether or not your heart and mind are open, and whether or not you act on it. Are you willing to embrace any and everything that is thrown at you with joy? Will you wake up every single day and get in the Word? Will you respect and honor your hosts and leaders and their decisions, even when it’s hard? Do you truly desire to grow in whatever way that may look? No one is going to do anything for you. They can’t choose growth for you.
SURRENDER – This goes right along with the first. If I could give one analogy for the Race, I would give one of someone walking up a mountain with their hands wide open. You have to always be in that position. If you surrender to God in every situation you’re put in, you are going to see the reward. My lowest point of the Race was days before I experienced the richest month of my life. I was broken, but I chose to persevere and seek God. And dang, He showed up in a way that wrecked my world for the rest of my life.
SOUL CARE – My squad coaches taught me about this and it has radically changed how I daily walk with the Lord and the people in my life. Dependence on the Lord isn’t just a suggestion; it is vital and necessary. You can only pour out what you have. You can only love when you know you are loved. You can only be full of joy, peace, strength, and wisdom, when you get it from Him. If your soul isn’t right with the Lord first, everything else is going to struggle. Rest comes from spending time with God and allowing Him to fill you up. And trust me, you need rest.
FIGHT – Fight for your team. Fight for your community. Do not let time slip away without investing in your team. I had an anxiety attack when I found out my first team. I was pretty upset about it. But we chose to fight for one another and it turned into something incredible. If you’re constantly surrounded with people who are like you, aren’t you really just loving yourself? These people are your family. They are everything on the Race, and if you fight, they’ll be everything to you off the Race. I’ve never experienced community like I did during those nine months. Get over your own annoyances and issues and be present. It’s called dying to yourself for a reason. Pick up your cross. Love isn’t always a feeling; it’s a decision.
It will be gone before you know it and the people are what you’ll miss the most. You’re going to miss your entire team squeezing into your tent and crushing you. You’ll miss trying to make a meal with twenty people in a kitchen. You’ll miss laying on squeaky plastic mats, laughing and talking about Jesus with your best friends. You’ll be sitting in a big empty house and you’ll miss always being surrounded by craziness. I can’t stress enough how much your squad will mean to you. Because of Jesus, because of Holy Spirit – your love for eachother goes to a new level. Root yourselves in His love. Empower. Encourage. Be vulnerable. Take feedback seriously. Don’t miss out on relationships you could have for the rest of eternity.
MOMENTS – Take these in. You’ll have big and little “moments.” Write them down. Acknowledge them while they are happening instead of after they have passed. These are the moments you feel alive. When you’re so free, it feels like it’s coursing through your veins. It’s when you spin orphans around and their laughter fills your ears; when you’re singing and dancing and yelling at the top of your lungs in the bed of a pickup truck; when you’re hiking an active volcano in the hail and can’t stop laughing; when you’re running around a bonfire, chanting like cavemen, with a group of Thai college students under a sky full of stars.
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The last day of my Training Camp, right after I found out I would be a team leader, I was standing in front of my squad coach, Kerry. (He is one of the greatest men I’ve had the privilege of knowing, and if any of you have him and Jenny as your squad coaches, take full advantage of them). But he told me the torch had been passed on to me.
And now, I pass it on to you. It’s yours. Take it and run with it and enjoy it. Because before you know it, you’ll be passing it on to the next generation. Remember, above of all else, that you’re entitled to nothing. God does not need you. He could do it all by Himself. He could bring the nations to their knees with just a whisper. But He chooses to let you in on it. He says, “Hey I’m about to do something really cool. Do you want to be apart of it?” And you said yes. Now go get it.
