We are officially on our way home and as a last blog before my feet step foot on American soil- I wanted to let you all into a little bit of the end of this beautiful & crazy journey.
This year has had a lot of moments for me- moments of newness, moments of transition, moments even of routine (depending on the way you look at it)- and I’ve felt things, boy have I felt a lot this year. I’ve felt and experienced pain for the brokenness and suffering that happens around the world, I’ve experienced pure joy when I am holding one of God’s precious children and despite their circumstances and where they come from- together we are experiencing LOVE. I’ve experienced deep and raw community where I’ve seen the Body of Christ actually lived and walked out in a real way. I’ve made deep lasting friendships with people around the world who I can’t even guarantee I’ll ever get to see again- but they are people who have changed me.
This year has also been a year of gratitude and thanksgiving. My heart overflows with thankfulness for the amount of support those back home have shown me whether it’s tithing into my year financially or keeping up with me this year whatever it was- it has meant more to me than you could ever know. God always had something incredible for me when things were getting hard this year and a lot of times that came in the form of a message from someone back home or hearing that people were praying for me. Everything no matter how little or big, I believe God uses- to shift the atmosphere!
This year I am also walking away with a lot of new stuff. My relationship with God looks different- looks deeper, but also hear me that it wasn’t always great. He challenged me this year in ways that hurt really bad and He showed me that He has things for me that look a lot different than I could ever dream for myself- and so I had moments this year. Moments of doubt & frustration that I had to fight through. I also am walking away with new perspective. A lot of times this year I got the opportunity to CHOOSE to see joy in things that were difficult. God would reveal to me how different my heart posture would be towards those around me and circumstances around me when I sat with Him and thanked Him for all He has given me! In fact, one of the coolest things I did this year that had a huge impact was a thankful journal. During month 10 myself and team Shay Shay (my original all girls team) did 33 thankfuls everyday for one month which added up to 1,000 at the end! It was incredible to see how God moved my heart in new ways because of that journal. There’s a quote from an incredible book I read this month called Ruthless Trust and the quote says, “The number one quality of a trusting disciple is a heart of gratitude”. It’s not always the easiest thing to choose, but it’s the most worth it.
I want to end saying this- my perspective coming home this year is that it is just the beginning. God has so much left for each of us in our lives and even though this year has been one of the best years I TRUST that there are better years yet to come. He always has more He wants to give and show us and all it takes is a heart that says yes and is willing! From here I want it to look like an invitation to welcome you all into this new chapter of my life. I want to share stories and hear stories from you all, I want to sit and talk about the goodness of the Father, I want to hear your passions and dreams and pray with you about them and I want to really give of my time for the next little bit. This new season of my life has a lot of uncertainty- so I’m excited for you guys to be a part of it with me!
Thank you for loving me so well this year. Thank you for supporting me. Thank you for believing in me and sending me out. Thank you for allowing me to have this opportunity. See you in 8 hours Chicago!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you all
Also, I realize I didn’t really do a good job of updating people this year via blogs- so I’m hoping to still post stuff even after the year is over and let you guys in on some of the ministries I partnered with and more of what we did!
