Success: (n.) “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose”
I have lived a life driven by a desire to succeed.
I’ve aimed for things, and I’ve measured my success by my ability or lack thereof to achieve those things.
Over the past few years, the Lord has taken me on a journey of processing through my “why” for the things which I aim for and by which I measure the success of my life.
And as I have processed through my past, I have found that my “why” for many of the things for which I have aimed, though not inherently bad, have often not been without a bit of selfish ambition–a need to hold a title, to be known, and to achieve something bigger and better.
However, as I have laid down my own ambitions at the foot of the cross, the Lord has transformed my perspective of success and the way in which I will measure the success of my life.
After a season of stepping back and processing through things, I’ve been left with something so simple:
Love and serve God. Love and serve people.
That is now my “why” for everything I do. It is my aim, my purpose, and my measure for success.
I believe that if I have done these things, then at the end of any day, week, month, or year, I will know that I have been successful.
People have been asking what my squad is doing in Australia, but before I explain that, let me just say this–I believe that our time here has been so successful because we are loving and serving God and loving and serving people.
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Okay, so what are we doing?
We are currently staying in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. Coffs Harbour is a gorgeous, coastal community on the eastern side of Australia.
While the ocean views here are astounding, it is the people who have won my heart here (this will be a common theme throughout the World Race and the rest of my life; it’s always the people within a place that will win my heart). Coffs Harbour is full of wonderful people who have warmly welcomed us into their lives, churches, businesses, and homes.
Each day here looks a bit different, but the thing that I appreciate is that space is left for the Lord to direct our steps. There are days when there is planned ministry, but there are also days when we pray and ask the Lord to guide our plans for the day. Here are a few examples of planned and unplanned ministry:
Planned:
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YWAM Coffs Harbour regularly visits a local retirement home. We were able to visit and spend time with the residents–fellowshipping with them, listening to their stories, and sharing smiles, hugs, and words of encouragement.
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We went to an off-the-beaten-path drug rehabilitation center where several families have chosen to live in community away from a town/city, saying, “We will give up living normal lives in order to help others get back to living normal lives.” This rehabilitation center has a school for both the children of the staff/volunteer families living there and the children of any families who move there while one or both parents go through the rehabilitation center (wow!), and since school starts back up soon for Australian children, we were able to help with several back-to-school cleaning and lawn care projects. Many hands makes for a light load, right? I was also able to connect with one of the men going through rehab, and what a powerful conversation we had.
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A young, local church sought our help in connecting with local residents and inviting them to church.
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We are going to a large music event tomorrow to serve and safeguard a whole lot of people who are, likely, searching for something that will fulfill them.
Unplanned:
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We all took some time to pray, and then shared some things that had been laid on our hearts. The elderly came to my mind, and I asked if we could visit a nursing home, but I was told that we would be doing that the following day (yay!) as a planned time of ministry, so instead, I went out with a group of girls to meet and encourage people around town. Some of the groups went to have worship sessions in and around the city, some prayer walked, and others went out in the community to have sweet encounters with the locals, similar to my group. Each group came back with sweet stories of what the Lord had done; Jesus’ light was shining so brightly that day.
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The encounters I have DAILY with the people in this community. The Lord is creating divine and beautiful appointments between people.
And really, these planned and unplanned examples of ministry are only the beginning of what we have done.
“Ministry is life. Life is ministry.” We are living this out, and it is good.
