Hi, I’m at final debrief… craziness. I have a couple of blogs I’ll be posting over the next few days, this one is one of my favorites.
Sometimes I write blogs and sometimes I write blogs. This one is something that really helped me stay present my last few weeks of being on the race, as well as helped me prepare for going home. It has prepared me to be able to share what I have gained with those back home whom I love. I have been sitting with the lord and asking him, “What have you taught me, what have I learned?” And in the midst of this, I became even more grateful for my time on the race, how undeserving I am and how much of a blessing these nine months have been. I asked some of my team members to share some of their lessons, too. And what we realized, is a lot of the lessons below are things we have heard, but we have never experienced before.
These aren’t all the things I have learned, not even close. But I wanted to give a glimpse: )
Do small things with great excellence
Choose bravery instead of safety as often as you can
Walk with the urgency of the spirit
Generosity is constantly an option; give your time, your thoughts, your love, your resources
God’s favorite part of who we are is our humanity
If you feel prompted to do something that you don’t want to do, you probably should
Perfect love casts out fear, if you are fearful of something then you do not fully believe that God’s love for you is perfect
The person closest to you should inspire you spiritually
Lead with vulnerability, it welcomes vulnerability, which leads to growth and strength
Struggling to believe something to be true about the character of God is actually a good step toward authentic faith
I relent. This life is not my own, God gives life and that is worth the loss of mine
You never stop paying the cost of Christianity, it constantly requires us to give more away, to give more to the lord
Life of a Christ follower should never be easy. Simple? Yes. Easy? No.
No mature Christ follower has a weak prayer life
One of God’s greatest gifts is conviction, it allows us to be in complete agreement with the Lord. you can’t get much closer than that
I don’t know if I want the title “Christian” or if I just want to follow Christ
“You have stayed on this mountain long enough.” –another blog to come
It is a blessing to have little
If what I have now is good, God has something better, he does not downgrade
Look people in the eyes
God’s tone of voice changes to fit the person listening
The word of God comes alive when the spirit is alive in you
Don’t ask rhetorical questions and don’t use contingencies, say what you truly believe and ask the questions you need to know answers to
When the bible said, “don’t let anyone look down on you for being young” that includes people your own age, especially your own age
Try to live life like you’re looking for Jesus, and when you see him, keep looking for more of him
Appreciate discomfort, hard things, and challenges
And just look for Jesus, not the things you gain when you find him
Jesus’ death on the cross was not a sacrifice for the greater good, one life for the sake of many. If the whole world had been perfect and never sinned, but you messed up, God would have looked at you and said, “I still want him/her.” He leaves the ninety-nine for the one
The non-negotiable is that you spend time with the Lord, how you spend that time is flexible
Patience
If you are learning, you should be sharing
God is not limited to what I am capable of
Walking in freedom/ individuality
Intentionality
Intimacy with God, everyday personal, not living for the highs
How to live in community………. 24/7
Abandonment, cope without people, comforts, home, dependency
How to live contently, not in excess
How to create something out of nothing, resource limited
Boldness, what it actually is, saw it before but didn’t know how to have it
Creativity is created by our creator, it is a form of worship, we reflect character of Christ with our creativity
Freedom, is choice and I’m walking in it. Walk in freedom from expectations. Stop striving, we were actually created to walk in freedom
Practice what we preach, if we share about freedom, we should be walking in it
Influence is simply because of Christ, important, steward it well, don’t be numb to the influence that you have, awareness of that influence leads to stewarding it well.
the end
much love, kara
