I can't believe how blessed I am to get to serve with 2 strong men of the Lord and 4 beautiful ladies whose
hearts are FERVENT for Papa! These people are now my FAMILY! Over the next year we will be living together, eating together, laughing together, crying together, praying together, discussing poop together, serving together, dancing together, and HEALING together. See the common theme there? Together. I am SO excited to serve in community with this group of amazing people. Ahhhhhhhh…God is so good! I have no doubt that the seven of us being called together is a divine appointment and I know that God has HUGE plans for us as we give our lives up to serve and grow in Him.
This week Papa called me into leadership and I have been so humbled by the experience. The World Race is FULL of gifted leaders. I don't think you can sign up for the race without being a leader. I came into the week thinking, "No way I will be chosen as one because of the lack of "church" in my life over the last few years". I walked away this week knowing that the gifts God has given me are not measured by how many times I have been to church. They are gifts implanted by Him and they are available to use when I seek Him out wholeheartedly. I used to think I had the ability to do things but Papa has crushed that thought this week. I kneel humbly in front of the Lord and will serve Him with all of my heart and soul. Only with His Spirit inside of me can I love and serve my team with all of my heart and soul in the way that they need from their leader…so please shower me in prayer!
I will go into detail about why we chose the team name, "Monarch", in another blog … but for now I just want to introduce my ridiculously cool, funny, joyful, passionate, amazing, spiritual, loving team. We all have stories. Messy stories. I know God is smiling down on us right now and can't wait to turn those messy stories into world changing stories. Without further adieu …
Meet the lovely ladies of Team Monarch …
Miss Michelle Imig! 
Michelle comes to our group from Illinois and let me tell you … this girl LIGHTS up every single room she walks into. Maybe I should rephrase that to every room that she dances into. This girl can break it down! Right off the bat I noticed a couple of incredible qualities about Michelle: the joyous mood of everyone around her and her overall zest for life. Anytime I saw Michelle around camp she was surrounded by people who were smiling and laughing. When you are around Michelle, you can't help but enjoy life. One of the first things she said to me was, "Hey, have you seen the movie constipated yet?" … I responded no … "Well that's because it hasn't come out yet!" This girl is HILARIOUS! And the cherry on top … she snorts when she laughs … so classic. Michelle's zest for life is contagious and it spread like wildfire throughout our squad. Her gifts will turn around lost and depressed souls this year and I am absolutely stoked to see it happen.
Miss Meagan LaFoy!
Meagan is another one of our southern girls, claiming Alabama and rolling tide everywhere we go! Two things that I love about Meagan are her nurturing spirit/positive attitude and ability to find humor in things. I don't think I heard ONE negative word or thought come out of her mouth all week. The positive attitude she carries with her is a gift and will be such a blessing next year as we are sure to face situations that will need her positive spirit to lift the group up. She is a TOTAL sweetheart and is willing to serve the Lord and love the people around her with everything she has. When people are around Meagan they can relax and be themselves! I caught myself multiple times this laughing with Meagan when most people in the room didn't find humor in a situation. She shares my love of finding little humor in situations and I am so pumped to laugh about obscure things in 11 different countries with her. She will spread the joy in her heart around the world and I can't wait to see kids' lives affected forever by Meagan.
Miss Candice Yates!
I would tell you where Candice is from but the only thing you need to figure that out is a working eye. This girl is crazzzzy about the Florida Gators! License plates, email addresses, and every article of clothing she wears contain something Gators. It's awesome. What is even more awesome is her HUGE desire to serve the Lord. She is an incredibly hard worker and has absolutely no quit in her. I had the pleasure of hearing a couple of her stories and let me tell you, this girl is PERSISTANT! That quality is going to be needed so often this year as we face challenges and times get tough. Another incredible quality about Candice is her openness and honesty. I was inspired by the work that the Lord did over the course of training camp in Candice and I cannot wait to see her life continue to change. She has a heart for helping women and I know she will restore confidence and life in a crazy amount of women this year as we travel across the nations.
Miss Leah Malone!
Leah is our Texas girl and I don't know if everything is bigger in Texas … but let me tell you, this girl's heart is! The Lord did some insanely awesome work in Leah this week and I watched her change before my eyes. A couple of amazing characteristics about Leah that I learned this week is her random humor and her newfound BOLDNESS! I appreciate humor that comes out of nowhere and Leah is the queen of random sayings. She is not afraid to say what is going on in her mind and when she shares it the group cracks up! Her vibrant spirit absolutely lifts the group to another level. While her ability to share random thoughts is amazing, her boldness to share spiritual thoughts is even cooler. Leah's confidence in hearing the Lord's voice grew exponentially this week and because of that our group encountered the Spirit and grew closer together than I thought was possible in one day. I am so excited to see the power of the Holy Spirit continue to explode in her heart and to see crazy changes happen in the nations where small thinkers did not think changes were possible.
Jesse Morris!
Coming from Chicago, Illinois, and not afraid to tell you that … Jesse Morris! This man has the most amazing servant attitude towards life. If there is ever a task to be completed or an extra hand that is needed … you can count on Jesse being there to serve with a smile on his face. Most people will serve willingly when asked, but Jesse actively seeks out ways to help. His LOYALTY to the Lord is crazy inspiring and I have learned so much about the joy of serving by spending time with him. I still so often get caught up in the 'me world' where I am considering my thoughts and what do I need at the moment. That doesn't exist in Jesse. The Lord is going to use Jessie in BIG ways this year as he continues to serve with relentless obedience. What a blessing Jesse is to have on our team and I am so excited to see the work God does through him this year.
Sam 'I am' Walter!
Sam is a native to Ohio and currently lives in Iowa. I have NEVER met a man who articulates his thoughts into words as well as Sam does. This man carries himself with such a calm spirit that I can't help but listen intensely to every word he speaks. Sam has wisdom beyond his years and is such an asset to the spiritual dynamic of the group. But just when you think Sam is sitting back, processing thoughts and about to give amazing insight … he busts out in a smeagol impression or breaks it down on the dance floor! What a crazy, cool guy. I know that the Lord has things in store for Sam that are BEYOND my comprehension. He has a passion for youth and I know God will use that passion to hault teens from the path they are on and use Sam to guide them back to the path of fruitfulness and life.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about my new family. I encourage you to check out their blogs too as they share stories about their lives over the next year. I love these people with all of my heart and cannot wait to serve side by side with them!
