SO much love so far for this journey the Lord is taking me on. I cannot thank everyone enough that is coming alongside me and believing and encouraging this God sized dream. I am daily getting more and more questions concerning the race and the time up until the race. Thankfully because of technology I am already connected with my awesome team and among other, random things we have been discussing fundraising. I know that a lot of you have questions about the money and where it all goes. My squad mate wrote this AWESOME blog concerning fundraising and I wanted to share it with you guys. It answers a lot of the questions that are being asked and I even found it very helpful. You can find that HERE. An update on my fundraising: $2100 towards my goal! I cannot believe it. I also have enough money on top of all of that for the remaining gear that I will need. I am in awe of the Lord already providing so much to me.
So, a few other questions that I am being asked and I know everyone is dying to know the answers to. “What is Tucker Tillman going to do without you?!” I think the better question here is what am I going to do without Tucker Tillman?? The plan is that he will be rotating between anyone who wants to have him for a while. My parents will mostly be taking care of him but if anyone wants to get on the list to help give them some relief than let me know! Everybody knows my dog is one of my favorite things in life and to know that he is being taken care of will give me a lot of peace. (Yes, I’m a crazy dog lady.)
The next question I am getting asked is this: “what are you going to do until the race?” I could get deep and spiritual here but all I will say is how you finish one season is how you begin the next. I do not want to begin the season of the race emotionally and physically drained as I am right now. My job takes a lot out of me and I feel as though I have been exhausted for a year straight. Most people don’t understand how affected I am by my job when I walk out of the office but just ask my parents and you can get the 411 in a matter of minutes. So, I am taking some time off to let my brain recover from all of this so that I will be ready to hit the ground running come July and to get my body healthy along the way. While I feel like the Lord is allowing me a season of rest it does not mean sitting on the couch watching trash TV and eating everything just because I can. It means that I will be spending a lot of time with the Lord to prepare my heart for all the things I am going to experience the next year. It means spending time with the ones that mean the most to me that I am going to miss dearly for the next year. It means spending as much time with my first niece as I can. It means spending most of my time fundraising and telling people about the race and all that the Lord wants to do. I have read in multiple places in the Bible where even my Jesus rested. If the savior of the world needed rest than I think that I probably do too. But all the while Jesus was resting and reclining He was still leading people to this everlasting life. I am not a good rester as most people close to me know so it will be a difficult season for me but I am excited to have so much time to prepare and get my heart ready for all that the Lord will be doing!
I am reminded of a story that we are all familiar with when Mary and Martha have Jesus over. Martha is running around the home cooking, cleaning and preparing like most of us do when things are going on in our lives. Mary is sitting at her savior’s feet taking in his wisdom and resting while he pours into her life. The Lord has told us that Mary was doing the right thing and while I am not arguing or disbelieving or discrediting what the Lord said in this passage I believe that Mary was only doing the right thing at that moment. I don’t think the Lord has called us to ALWAYS sit and listen. To always sit and recline. To always sit and relax. I think there are seasons of rest and there are seasons of work. I think there are seasons of an in between where a balance has to be found. I think at times we are the Martha, running around and preparing. In this coming season of rest I know that it is one where I have to find a balance of Martha and Mary in my life. That in the midst of the resting at His feet I have to still be working to raise the funds. In the midst of sitting at His feet I find the game plan for the $16,000 mountain I have to climb. In the midst of the sitting at His feet I find words and encouragement not only for my life but words and encouragement to speak into the lives of people around me. I am not called to be a Mary resting at His feet at all times. You are not called to be Martha running around in chaos all of the time taking your kids here and there, taking care of your mom, or working 24/7 even after you’ve left the office. Fill in the blank with what it is that you have on that to-do list. In the resting at His feet is where we find the words, encouragement, strength and Holy Spirit to help us win that battle we’ve been fighting for far too long. We find the plan to move forward in the chaos. We find the refill for our heart that has been poured out to where there is nothing left. If we rest too much then I see the chaos becoming more and more with the sink overflowing, the food on the stove burning, and the dust in the house an inch thick. If we are always working and never taking the time to rest under His almighty wings and be refilled than the sink may not be overflowing and all the clothes might be washed and all the work might be caught up on but you and I will be empty and hopeless and in a dark place in our lives. So, I am praying for every one of you reading these words. That you would find the time to rest with Jesus in these crazy, hectic lives that we live. That your kids would go to bed a little earlier or wake up a little later so that you have time to sit at His feet. That you would close the computer while home and turn the TV off and get with Jesus so that He can refill you with joy and peace. My life is crazy and hectic and draining but the Lord sustains and the Lord gives me the grace for THIS day. His mercies are new every morning and for that I am grateful.
So don’t forget to checkout my squad mate’s blog up top and find out where all of this money goes to! Thank you to everyone that is praying and supporting me already!!
