I am sitting on my bed in a dark room, with only a hint of light streaming through the curtains, listening to the rain drum on the rooftop. It is a sound that I cherish so much, one that makes me feel at peace, comforted, and at home. Its one of my favorite things to snuggle up on a rainy day, in my blankets, reading a good book, watching a movie, writing, or perusing artsy things on the internet. Being from California these days are rare, and I have learned to truly value them. But I am finding the opportunities to just relax and enjoy them on the Race are even rarer. Don’t get me wrong, it rains all the time in Asia, but we are so often running back and forth from ministry to ministry that the ability to just enjoy them does not happen very often. Therefore this time in my dark room, time to recharge and reflect while listening to the music of the rain (and my slightly snoring teammate), is such a welcome blessing. This is just one of the many simple joys I am thankful for in this season of Thanksgiving.
There are a few other things I am more than thankful for, and that is my team. Team Illuminate has become my family or #FAMBAM. Brad, Tanner, Liz, and Ashley have become some of my dearest friends, and although living with each other 24 hours a day without escape can become a challenge sometimes, it has really brought us together and I am coming to love these friends dearly. That is why this is an IMPORTANT post for me. Two of these people that I find so precious: Liz and Ashley, are in danger of going home. Our next deadline of 11,000 is only a week away and they both are in need of some financial help to meet that deadline.
These girls, these sisters, have been such a blessing to me, helping me grow and realize things about myself that have been essential to everything wonderful I am experiencing and learning on the race. They have loved me, and loved me well. They have loved orphans, and college students, adults, the homeless, the hopeless, and they are not done loving. They have so many more people left to bless and love on. So many ways that God has planned to use them to further His Kingdom. So please, help me and love me by loving on them as well. Help us be Light to the Darkness as a family. If you are feeling led to donate to their accounts instead of mine this time, that would be AWESOME. If you would pray for provision for them, share their links and stories, that would also be AWESOME. Because keeping them on the race with me would be truly WONDERFUL!
I value Liz’s (left) quirky sense of humor, her ability to draw in the meek and mild and love on them, her random assortment of knowledge that sheds light on our environment and helps us experience the world in a new enlightened way, her ability to laugh, her eyes that see, her intentionality, they way she absorbs like a sponge, her positivity, the list goes on and on. She has reminded me to take pleasure in the details of life, to stop and smell the roses, to rest and breathe in all that this world, and every person has to offer. She sees potential and nurtures it. She points me daily to how much attention God puts into every little detail. It has been such a pleasure to observe the way she takes in and processes and experiences and interacts, and I am so thankful for all she has helped me to see. www.lizadee.theworldrace.org
I value Ashley’s (right) boldness, her confidence, her passion, her strength, and ambition. She wears her heart on her sleeve She is open about her life, with little to hide, and it is refreshing. It invites people in by letting them be a part of her life, included in her experiences and the things, people, and places that she loves. Her heart is set on children, loving them, caring for them, and in the future adopting them. She is compassionate, but also knows how to help discipline and guide them in a constructive way. She has great ideas about how to organize our activities and endeavors and adds structure to our group. She inspires me in her strength and courage to be her unique self. She teaches me everyday to speak and act boldly, and to profess Christ just as boldly. It has been encouraging to watch how she carries herself and I am so thankful for the ways she has included me in her life on her journey.
www.ashleyloeb.theworldrace.org
Help me return the LOVE!
Please visit their websites by clicking on their pictures on the side of my page, and share their links: www.ashleyloeb.theworldrace.org and www.lizadee.theworldrace.org
