Becoming a Barbarian
So it’s the New Year. The big 2-0-1-5. Just another year… I think not, at least not for this girl. I need more and want more out of this life. I don’t want just another year of life; I want a year worth living. This past year was full of growth, new friendships, a new relationship, restoration, and adventures. I left for the world race, I started dating the love of my life, I hiked an active volcano, went white water rafting, went to the Mayan ruins, went on a Safari, bungee jumped off a bridge, preached more than ever before, and made a new group of friends. I would say that’s a great year for the books, but what about this year.
A few days before the New Year, the Lord kept me up one night. He took me on a journey to my past. He took me to my last two baptisms. I wasn’t sure why until He pushed play. I saw myself sitting at my Upward basketball practice. My sister’s coach came up to me to tell me my younger sister, Kassey, had accepted Christ and wanted to be baptized. Well instantly I thought “oh no my parents would be disappointed if I didn’t do that too,” so I instantly, without thinking about what it meant, said I want to do that too. So a few weeks later my sister and I were baptized in a church where we knew no one, in the coldest water I have ever been in in my life. Life went on and I never thought of it again. In high school I did have a better understanding of God and the church. At the southern Baptist church I attended, baptism was really pushed. Since I was involved in the youth I figured well I have to be baptized so the youth will see me as a good Christian and want to follow MY example so I was baptized without even telling my parents about it.
Since High School and especially since coming on the race I have experienced something different. I don’t just know about Jesus and His word, I have lived it. I have heard Jesus speak to me in different ways, I have seen His grace being poured out on me, I have witnessed restoration in my family, I have seen and been apart of healing the sick and the blind, I have worshiped with my face on the floor and tears flowing from my eyes, and I have seen and felt God’s love. I truly know Him and truly want to live for Him in all things. So the Lord told me that it was time to stand and symbolically give my life to Him once and for all. Instantly my coaches Bob and Becky came to mind and I knew it was them that were to take me into the water! I had planned to just have my team and maybe one or two people accompany me to the water but before I knew it, it had been announced to the whole squad. The moment we walked into the water the beach was full of my D squad family and of course many Malawian children were there to support and encourage me.
The moment I was under that water I knew this year was going to be different. That I want more of the Lord even if it costs me my life! I don’t want to become a domesticated Christian that follows the rules of some denomination. I want to be a savage for the Lord. That puts my life on the line in order to spread the gospel to just one person. To start preparing myself to be a risk taking wife and mother and raise my kids in a way that inspires them to become a barbarian themselves.
I read a book called Unleashed on the bus ride to debrief and it describes what the life of a Barbarian looks like, it goes something like this:
They live their lives with every step moving forward and with every fiber of their being fighting for the heart of their King. Jesus Christ has become the all-consuming passion of their lives. They are not about religion or position. They have little patience for institutions or bureaucracies. When asked if they are Christians, their answer might surprisingly be no, they are passionate followers of Jesus Christ.
This is what I crave and desire, to have the Lord awaken my spirit. To look more and more like Jesus with each new day. To stand up and proclaim truth to anyone and everyone. To pour out love to each and every person I pass whether at church, in the grocery store, on the streets, or a small village in Africa. I want everyone to experience this life I am living and the Savior I am living it for. It isn’t always going to be easy and I have so much more growing to do but the Lord is faithful. The Lord is preparing me for battles that I will claim victory over time and time again.
My prayer is that my life looks different to everyone who knows me and that they too will seek out this way of living for Jesus. You don’t have to be in Africa, or a volunteer at the church, you don’t even have to be a certain age, all you need is a passionate love and desire for Jesus Christ. I’m praying that over each and every one of you that is reading this blog. Forget religion and live for Jesus. Stop trying to live a long life and start trying to live one that is worth living. Start volunteering, travel the world and bring Jesus to the children in the villages, go talk to your neighbors about what God is doing in your life. Ministry is everywhere; we just have to stop being afraid to do it.
So that’s it. My New Years resolution is to become a Barbarian for Christ. To give up my life daily and go wherever God calls. That may seem crazy to some of you but I guess that is my goal! To love the Lord so passionately that I become “that crazy person”.
