My favourite
worship song right now is Blessed be Your
Name, and it has been for some time. I’ve always loved the second verse of
it. But about a week ago, when this song was the first song we sang in worship,
it was the bridge that really stood out to me.
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose
to say
Lord, Blessed be your
name
The bridge
stood out to me because that night I was feeling quite upset with God. I felt
like He was asking me to make more sacrifices, and take more from me that I
wasn’t ready to give. But then listening to this song gave me a bit of a new
perspective and helped me see through my own selfishness and see God’s plan and
His hand in everything.
Let me
explain. That night before worship we found out about some team changes. Jeremiah
and myself are moving from Team Deliverance to Team Kaleo, while Hailey and
Rosa are moving from Team Kaleo to Deliverance. In Kaleo, Jeremiah is stepping
up into the role of team leader.
At first
when I was told of these changes it was really hard to accept. I have spent two
months with Team Deliverance, and I have built deep relationships with everyone
on the team. I felt like God was taking my new brothers and sisters away from
me. I know that this is going to be a huge month for many people and I wanted
to be there to witness it, to celebrate in the breakthroughs and cry with them
through the challenges. But God has called me away from this team to join
Kaleo, and to go with my new brother Jeremiah and support him as he steps into
leadership.
At first I
was confused, but the more I pray about it, the more excited I get. Yes, it
will be hard to leave Team Deliverance, but I trust that God has big plans for
me on Kaleo. And I am thrilled that I am still able to stay with Jeremiah, he
is such a good friend and I am not done learning from my big brother yet.
At the
beginning of our time in Ecuador, God was really teaching me about accepting
what He has for me, accepting His love, His forgiveness, and His gifts. He told
me to accept the gift that the time in each country is, and to get everything I
can out of it. Soak in everything I can in each country and learn whatever He
has for me. But then, let it go. Accept the gift and love every minute of it,
but then let it go and accept what He has for me next. Don’t get caught up in
remembering the last country that I miss out on the opportunities of this
month.
I feel like
God is now telling me to extend that lesson. God gave me a gift of time with my
teammates on Deliverance. And I loved every minute of it. I learned so much,
and grew so much. God has already done more in my life in these last 2 months
than I was hoping for in the entire year. But now He has something else for me.
He is telling me to love Deliverance for what it was, but now it’s time to move
on and embrace His next gift, the gift of a new team in Kaleo. It’s a new group
of people to challenge me and help me grow. A new group of people to seize
opportunities with and to experience all God has to offer us. I am so excited
to get to know a new group of people, to have new brothers and sisters.
Team
Deliverance, I love you all so much. I can’t believe how much I love you all
after just two months. And even though Jeremiah and I are moving to Kaleo,
nothing will ever erase our memories together, and nothing will ever change the
relationships that were built. Thank you all for everything you’ve taught me.
For all the support you gave me while I was learning tough lessons from God.
For all your love, encouragement and friendship. I cannot think of a better
place to have started the race. I can’t wait to see you all again at the end of
Peru and hear all about your month.
Team Kaleo,
thank you for accepting Jeremiah and I with open arms. You excitement about us
joining you makes me feel loved already. I know we’re all going to be missing
our old teammates, but I believe that God is really going to bless our
relationships on this new team. We are going to help each other grow so much,
and be a new support system for each other. I am excited to get to know you all
better, and I’m excited to be entering this new season of the race with you.
This month is going to be fun!
