First, and maybe most important GIRL TIME!! God used several aspects of this month
to show me the 
importance of girl time and strong Godly female
relationships. Most obvious was
being a part of an all girls team which included late night dance parties,
heart wrenching team times (time spent encouraging each other), complete acceptance
with being messy physically and emotionally, spontaneous trips to the market
for something sweet or a Coke Zero, walking around our house with minimal
articles of clothing, along with lots of good belly laughs. I felt like I was back in college again
and it felt great. God also used
one of the women we met in the bars to remind me genuine female friendships are
special and rare. In her 40’s, Minnie jumped at every chance to go on “dates” with us. If you read my prior blog, Amanda and Emily took her to
McDonald’s then went back to her place to sing karaoke. Minnie was excited to attend our goodbye
event where she spent much of the time admiring and watching our group interact
and have fun. She knew we were
blessed; we possessed “enviable happiness”. And lastly God used a conversation
with a good friend serving in Belgium, who I had not been able to connect with
my entire 8 months on the World Race, to help me realize the importance of
investing and honoring the women in my life who love me and whom I love.
Second, I’ll be taking intercession and making it a regular
spiritual discipline in my personal walk with God and hopefully integrate it into
my community as well. For some
time I’ve had the desire to develop a stronger prayer life and when Thailand
teammate Rikki asked to incorporate intercession into our month, before we
realized it was already going to be a HUGE part of our ministry schedule, I was
super excited. At the time I
didn’t even know the difference between intercession and prayer but I was on
board to carve out and dedicate time to the Lord. Needless to say we had some
really rich times connecting and worshiping God together. The sessions created a deep desire to
experience rich prayer times with my current team and my community back at
home.
Third, I’m reluctantly taking with me the knowledge of my still
existent controlling nature. During
the last 8 months of the World Race I’ve been forced to let go of control and
follow leadership, which often requires little to no thinking on my own. In Thailand I was appointed to a
leadership position for the month and was ecstatic to discover I my brain still
works. Figuring out schedules and
crunching budgets were logistical aspects of the leadership role I absolutely
LOVED. It reassured me that going
home wouldn’t be too much of an adjustment and I’d be able to fit back into the
fast pace of LA. But it also made
me realize, when given the opportunity I have a strong propensity to control
things and work in my own strength.
Not only did my controlling nature manifest itself in my leadership
role, but also in ministry at the bars.
Outreach in the bars looked very similar to my job before the race where
I entertained clients in hopes that they would want what I had; what I was
selling. In the bars, I offered to
take the girls out, or entertain them, in hopes they would want what I have,
Jesus. I realized I was becoming
very calculated and strategic, trying to figure out the best way to sell them
on Jesus. I was trying to do
things my way and in my own strength.
I am particularly grateful God showed me even after letting go control
for 8 months, it is very easy for me to fall back into my old ways. Allowing God to lead, letting go of
control is something I will need to surrender daily.
Fourth, there are several slightly more insignificant aspects of
Thailand I would love to take back home:
No shoes in doors (I’m really going to try and make this happen at
home)
