Hello Mate! Hope this update finds you more than well!
Each individual on the World Race team received a necklace with a key that has a specific word for each person. There is a staff member through Adventures in missions in prayer, asked God what word would be special per person. My word just happened to be “FLY” & in a random, kinda silly way, it really resonated with my spirit! I felt like I immediately knew what it meant. Keep reading to find out more.
If you could dive into my head prior to taking off for the world race, it would have been a roller coaster ride of scaries, excitements, anticipations, hesitations, confusion, and a mindset of “ready or not, here I come!”
To sum it up, I did not feel ready to embark on this journey for a variety of reasons, but here I am, & I realize this journey came just in time. God knows better than I do & man am I ever grateful.
The realization of what a life changing, & incredible opportunity this is, has left me humbled & a whole lot more intentional to not miss what God has in store right here and right now. & it’s only just begun & I feel like so much has happened already! I desire to soak up every lesson, opportunity, and revelation God has in mind for me to be part of in this year, but quite honestly I hope to have that heart posture the rest of my life! I desire to partner with what God is doing around the world in every & any way I can. I am ready for my life to be transformed & ready to do my best to be the hands and feet of Jesus wherever we go. I am ready for crazy growth.
The learner in me is thrilled to meet new people, see new places, & discover more of God’s heart for this world. The adventurer in me, is excited for the unknown. This is good, so unbelievably good & I want to let you know I am not taking this opportunity lightly. I am ready to soak all of it in & am SO honored you are part of this journey with me too! Thank you for investing yourself into my life.
Travel update: January 12th marked the official “launch” of the world race but it wasn’t until the 16th that my team and I officially took off of this 11 month journey is to Australia, in which our travel time has been a total of 64 hours with 6 different airports. World racers are on a tight budget & will do what it takes to make it feasible for all, LOL!
We have officially landed in Australia, & the past few days here we have immersed ourselves into the culture of it all. There have been several people I have met here that I really felt like God laid on my heart to sit & talk with, in which going both ways, we were totally blessed and encouraged to meet each other! There is one gal in particular on my heart that I met down town the other day. I am hoping to grab coffee with her while I am still here in Australia & see what God may have for me to encourage her in & love on her with too because it seemed like she could really use some encouragement. Wow, I’m realizing again and again, it is so worth it & fun to follow God & do my best to love people well in whatever context it is!
Going back to the necklace idea… while I am nothing short of stoked for what is to come, I realize that in order to “FLY”(as my necklace resembles) I cannot carry unnessasary weight on the inside. This has led me to lay some stakes down on some lifestyle changes I want to be intentional about.
With that said, here are the prayer points i’d like to share with you(Note: please bare with me it’s about to get personal up in here ;):
Me personally:
-To see what the God is doing & follow that to the best of my abilities
-“A Healed Mind” (Being intentional about taking my thoughts captive (2nd Corinthians 10:5) No longer to I want to have over analyzing, over thinking, & a confused mind be part of me.
-Live out what it means to “protect my heart” & still love individuals with all I have! (Proverbs 4:23)
-Growing in self love, self respect, & self worth. Doing my best to love others well has never been a struggle for me, but treating myself, my body, my mind, my spirit with that same love, has always been difficult. However, this is another “stake” I feel that God has laid on my heart to be more intentional about. Wahooooo!!!
Team:
-Favor & Safety along travel destinations with border crossings and customs
-Unity & sacrificial love: I desire for us to live out being the hands and feet of Jesus, wherever we go serving with integrity, humility, & honor!
-Good health as we embark on this journey
-Logistically speaking, several team members including myself have been assigned the role of logistics coordinating which includes getting our team safely through travel days, planning debriefs, & keeping track of some budgeting. While I am nothing short of stoked for this, it is a role that takes being proactive, wisdom, & joy. We could use all the prayers and more for that 🙂
Shout out: Thanks Mom & Dad for traveling down to Atlanta, Georgia to send me off for the next year! It meant more than you know & I will never forget the love you share so generously.
Thanks for reading, stay tuned for another blog update while in Australia 🙂
With gratitude,
Kailey
