These last weeks it seems like my last year is constantly on my mind. I’ve been seeking solitude and most of the time solitude can only come or feel “right” when I’m outside. A lot of times as Christians we tell people to “take that to the cross” or “take that to Jesus”. I tend to take things to my back porch. It has a comfortable chair and the dogs play and I get a perfect breeze with great natural lighting (I’m all about natural lighting). Here it’s easier to imagine where I have been and where I am going because I’m not confined to the room I’ve slept in since I was 12 or the chaos of the coffee shop I now work in.
On The Race when you need to be by yourself (which is hard to do) or talk to someone privately, you always went outside. Life happened mostly outside on The Race and because of that, I tend to think better and feel more myself when being outdoors. When I’m outdoors I can remember that who I am isn’t confined or determined by what space I am in because outside is endless.
In Zambia my teammate said that I am a worshiper. Even when it hurts or I don’t want to, I always end up giving glory to God. Or at least I try really hard to. Whether it’s pointing out the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen while flying over a middle eastern desert or picking the dinner salad for our teams in Zimbabwe or painting a bathroom for the third time in Romania or singing on a stage, God has taught me how to worship Him.
And by going outside and taking my worship outside, I have found that it is easier to think and become outside of myself. So much of who God is is in nature and it’s the part that we haven’t made up.
It’s not the wall projections or the baptistery formed by our own hands. It’s not the three point sermon or the half-assed connection groups. It’s the plates that He planted knowing they would rub together to serve us mountains. It’s the streams He knew in time would carve their way into caverns. It’s the trees that are older than we can imagine and younger than a blink of His eye. We tend to put mountains and fields and trees in our inspirational videos because the purity of God’s creation is inspiring! And because it reminds us of the purity within ourselves as we begin to understand that we were and are a part of that creation.
So when worship gets hard…
When life gets too chaotic and rushed…
When you forget who you are or who you can be…
When your room is too small for who God made you to be…
Go outside.
Take it to the porch.
Find the purity in nature and in adventure.
In June and July I have the opportunity to lead a team of women in this exploratory worship, in this outside-ness. And I get to do it in one of my favorite continents, Africa. On The Race God taught me how to lead and He’s continually showing me how to lead in the worship of Him so I’m incredibly excited and overwhelmed by this opportunity. The opportunity to be outside of ourselves, outside of our homes, outside of our country, and outside of our lives. Because that’s where we find who we really are according to God and not our surroundings. Swaziland has so much to give these women and my co-leader and I.
However I need $2,000 to seize this opportunity. To be able to lead and to learn by leading I need the help of generous people. I know God will provide because he provided for The Race so faithfully. Thank you for joining me this far on this crazy journey God has me on. And thank you for continually reading the rambles of my mind, giving faithfully, and praying continually for me. If you feel led to give, you can click the donate button above or message me to find out more. Thank you!
