Yes, this is an actual e-mail, it’s me, alive and well!
As of this very moment, I am typing this blog up from my dining room table in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Yes, you read that correctly, God took me all around the world over the last few years to place me here for a while.
And I love it. A lot.
Not long after I fulfilled my time Squad Leading for W Squad (heyo! miss y’all!), I left for Mijas, Spain. I was accepted to G42 Leadership Academy, where I had the anticipation and expectation of sharpening my skills and discovering my purpose in the Leadership roles that I have had the opportunity to step into. What I didn’t have the anticipation or expectation for was 64 days spent quarantined inside of our sweet humble abode, MiShack. What started as a two week quarantine with 5 other interns, turned into a two month quarantine in the mountainside of Spain. Talk about learning how to not let your circumstances define your journey. Yes, you read that right, 6 of us practically strangers not allowed to leave our home except for the grocery store for two months… yet I made it out of that space with life long friendships and an eternal understanding of what it means to come back to the table.
After my first 3 months of classes, I went on to Practicum in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was a House Parent at 91 Place, a home for homeless youth. I worked alongside 2 other classmates to foster an environment of purpose, belonging, and motivation for 4 young adults. I worked a part time job at Forever 21 and discovered that retail only sucks when we make it Suck. Being a House Parent taught me I have a voice and I need to use it. I am only stifling the movements God wants to make in other’s lives if I stay quiet just for the sake of “peace”. Confrontation done well breeds intimacy (thanks Gary Black), and trust is built slowly, very slowly, moment by moment.
Last summer I gained confidence in who I am not by what I do, just simply from the blatant fact that I am God’s kid. I am His daughter. I have a role in this Kingdom and I GET to love others.
Upon my return to G42, this time in Cleveland, Georgia (Heyo fall semester interns! Miss y’all too!), I quickly realized that I had a choice. I could either sit in the grief and lamenting from the last 6 months of my life not looking like I had once desired, or I could feel the things and keep running. I chose to run. The three months in Cleveland flew quicker than the last six months in total, and before I knew it, it was time to make the call on where I was going next.
And for the first time, the choice was fully mine. I was told “no” (by God) to leading another trip, and knew it was time to root myself somewhere.
I wanted a off ramp. I had participated in program after program, continually saying yes to the next door God opened in my life, and the vision here lines up with what I have heard God call me to and strengthen me in over the last few short years. I wanted to know really how to live this Kingdom life on the day to day basis, even in the mundane. How does one transition well? From being guided to self guidance. From being disciplined to self discipline? I felt like I was graduating high school all over again, just this time by knowing myself fully and making decisions for the call on my life, not what everyone else wanted.
I wanted to be with friends, I wanted to be with like minded people, I wanted to be able to lead Others into the revelation of who God is and who He says they are and what the heck are they supposed to do from there?! I want to be the bridge He has called me to be between Kingdom and Earth. I want to live in both places and build systems to help others succeed. I want to teach the lessons He Is teaching me, I want to be fully alive in Christ and give Christ the room to be fully alive in me.
So after a few conversations with the people who have known me for years, the ones who have journeyed with me from training camp until now, the ones who call me forward and upward into the Woman of God I am, Black Mountain North Carolina is where I have landed.
My arrival here was fairly unexpected. I sort of just showed up, a friend of a friend, with a few connections here and there, but no vetting ”process” to see if I would totally fit. Just the grace of God saying yes to what I want to and will do with my life. Here are a few practicals on what I have had the opportunity to step into since arriving on campus this past January:
1. Stepped into the role of House Captain. There is so much I could go into detail about this precious role that I have, but to give you the gist of it: I live in a beautiful home with currently 8 other young adult women. Some are students of the college campus here, Excel College, and others are pursing jobs in the marketplace. I get to serve them, love them, be a listening ear for them, encourage them to be who God says they are, and in the mean time, I get to experience a little piece of each one of their lives. It’s a gift. And that’s an understatement.
2. I work part time at a local grocery store. There’s something humbling about taking a job that has absolutely nothing really to do with your career path. People need groceries, and people need groceríes picked and delivered to their car. So that’s what I get to do, grocery shop, and bring God’s joy, love, peace, celebration, truth, all to your local grocery store.
3. I said “yes” to finishing my Bachelor’s Degree with Excel College. This has been a dream that has been a long time coming, one God asked me to put on the shelf years ago when I left for the World Race. It’s one that I almost jumped the gun on a few months ago before moving here. Now I get to be a part of the Excel Bachelor’s Program. I am currently working on my Emphasis in Program and Curriculum Development, which leads me into point 4.
4. God has put to use my background in Early Childhood Education by allowing me to have a hand in developing a supplemental activities program for the Homeschool Coop that meets on our campus. Through connecting and building a relationship with the Director of our campus’ group, I had the opportunity to help her build an “Arts & Activities“ Program for the kids. For the last 3 months, once a week, children ages 1-12 come to campus for 3 hours to participate in activities like taekwondo, music, art, science, fitness, and robotics. All while their parents get the first 3 hours of their day to attend a Bible study run by our very own Ms. Jean. I have my last day of Arts & Activities tomorrow, and I know there is so much more to come with this partnership.
5. While I’d like to say “and finally”, I know this is just the beginning. But this summer, I will have the opportunity to step back into the role of Squad Leader, this time from a local standpoint. I will head back to Gainesville, Georgia at the end of June for some more Leadership training (it’s like I value growth or something 😉 as well as a 3 day training camp for World Race SEMESTERS! Our campus on Black Mountain will be a host spot for a 1 month trip of young adults ages 18-20 who want to serve God’s Kingdom inside of America. I have never served for a short term trip, and am beyond enthralled that I have the opportunity to work with Adventures in Missions in this way again. I cannot wait to work side by side with these Young adults, and integrate them into our community for the month of July.
In the midst of all of these opportunities, God has placed me in a season of re-prioritizing, and re-aligning myself with what He says about my life. It all belongs. Letting go of some things and saying yes to others. I am learning the beauty of experiencing grief and joy in the same moments, and as I type this out I am coming to the realization that when I ask Him to show me His heart and give me His heart.. this is what it looks like.. experiencing it all at once. It’s overwhelming yet a privilege in The same moment that He chooses each one of us to possess His Kingdom. It excites Him to give us the keys.
So here we are, here I am, still moving, still bringing Kingdom to earth, still living a life of serving and leading, just in one location. And it’s beautiful. I get to live in a multi-generational community of people who want to see God’s Kingdom alive and active, who want to bring that out into the world, and I get to be A part of that. It’s a privilege and an honor, and I cannot wait to see where He takes me from here. So thanks for sticking around, for making it to the end of the first of many more posts. Because there’s something sweet about the fact God let’s us go back to the beginning, that we do get to hand things to Him and say “your will be done, not mine”, and that when you finally take your hand off from covering the reset button, and allow Him to show you where to go and what to do, He will create something deeper and greater than you or I could ever come up with. He is limitless.
Lord, be limitless through me. Be limitless through my life. Wreck the lies in our lives that we “have to” do anything. Impart in us a spirit of “get to”. Re-build us, re-define our relationships with you, give us all a heart for one another, give us your heart for one another, and heal the brokenhearted. For you are the ultimate healer. You are God of everything and anything. And we thank you for being so freaking cool.
Thanks yall.
Nicole
