At the end of last month some of my squad went through team changes. My old team, Fearless, being one of them. Throughout the race, I’ve had to trust God a lot, especially during team changes. This time I was very worried because I was only with team Fearless for 2 months and for the most part everything was going really well. I thought it was crazy that our time together was up so soon. So in my worried state, I went to God and just told Him how I didn’t understand and I knew I had to trust Him but I was just very frustrated with the whole situation. One morning while talking all this out with God, He gave me such a peace. He just spoke to my heart telling me this was all going to be good and reminding me that everything He had ever changed in my life was for the good.
So after that talk with God I just laid the worry down, ocassionally running back to it for a second, but over all laid down the worry and rested in His peace.
When the time came for team changes I just prayed and told God I trusted Him.
And now I am on a wonderful team. Team Liquacious.
Sami, Kendra, Caleb, Robby, and Juliette.
Sami is a new team leader and I am so happy I could be here to see her step into that role that God has always called her to. Her heart is so obviously for God and us, her teammates. I feel so blessed to be under her leadership. The rest of my team is amazing too. Of course I was so excited to see that Kendra was still on my team; we’ve been together the whole race and she is one of my closest friends. I was also excited to have Robby back. He was on my first team with me-team city lights, and its exciting to see how much we have both grown since those first months on the race. Juliette being on my team was a wonderful suprise. I had worked with her back in the DR but we didn’t get much time to spend together so its cool to get to know her and see her heart for God and His people. And lastly, Caleb. Caleb is ridiculous and funny. He reminds me so much of my brothers back home. He is constantly picking on us but its obvious that his heart is for God..and deep down we know he loves us, too.
Its going to be amazing to see this team grow. Our team name Liquacious doesn’t really mean anything. That being the reason we picked it. We didn’t want to pick a name to define us and a name that we had to live up to. Instead, we wanted to define the name and we wanted the name to live up to who God has already made, and is making, us.
After debriefing and team changes in Malawi, the whole squad split up again and we got to work:)
This month I am working in Nsoko, Swaziland. I’m living at an AIM carepoint with my team and Tara’s team, team truth. We are so blessed here! Its like we are staying at summer camp! We have real toilets and bunk beds and real showers- sometimes even with hot water! Merry Christmas to us! haha- we are loving it!
So far this month, we have had constant opportunities. The carepoint that we are living at feeds the orphaned children in this area every day and then the kids hang out here. Since we’ve been here we have been able to throw Christmas parties, help cook meals, play with the kids that hang out here, attend/encourage the local church, and go work at different carepoint giving out shoes and food and other needs.
Honestly, I don’t think I could’ve picked a better place to spend Christmas on the race.
While I’ve been here God has taught me so much about why I am here and about having good stewardship of the blessings He has given me. I have been such a bad steward of so many things, even since I’ve been on the race. A couple years ago I selfishly used up the blessings God had given me and constantly wanted more, then when I realized this I was overwhelmed with guilt. As the guilt sunk in, I thought I had to get rid of everything, I laid down everything in my life I had ever used selfishly, or at least tried to. I gave away the majority of my clothes, dropped out of my sorority, and for a while stopped spending any money on my wants.
This response was good, or the best I knew, but God is teaching me now that I don’t need to stay there. He is teaching me that I don’t need to push away all blessings. I need to receive with open hands and open ears. I need to take care of what I have while I have it and be listening for God to tell me to give. When He tells me to give or gives me the open doors, its my cue to keep my hand open and give. Right before the race, I didn’t really have this mentality. It was more of, “I’m going to give God the next 11 months so what can I hold on to??” I thought, “I’m going to be gone from everything and without so much, I have a right to keep this or buy this.” So instead of me keeping my hands open I allowed God to take/me give, and then I closed my fists so tightly around what I could hold on to.
I’m learning to keep my hands open. In that I’m allowing myself to receive blessings and trusting God won’t give me anything unless He has given me the wisdom to be a good steward of those things (thats what I pray for anyways, and trust He will honor that). I’m trusting that though I couldn’t before, I am a new creation now and I can receive with open hands and open ears. I am trusting God to grow me even more in this before I get home. I know that when I return home I’ll have so many blessings pouring into my life (it automatically happens the second any airplane lands in the states). I’m trusting God to teach me to be a good steward of all those blessings so when I get home instead of pushing them away I’ll receive without guilt and just with open hands.
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p.s.
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I’m still not fully funded. I have a little over $1,600 left and it is due by January 4th! If the money isn’t in by then there is a chance that I could be sent home. I of course don’t want this because I feel that God has called me here to stay, in saying that, I believe 100% that if God has called me He will provide.
So I want to ask 2 things of everyone reading this:
1) be praying for God to provide all the funding to keep me here
2) I have 300+ people that read my blogs, so if each one of you donate just $5.50 when you read this I will be fully funded!! I really hate asking for money because I know soo many of you give to other organizations and so many of you have already given me so much, but if you can support me a little more it would mean soo much to me! And if you don’t feel called to give financially please just keep me in your prayers that God would provide through other people:) I love you all! Thank you for the support that is changing my life forever and allowing me to share Jesus’s love with the world:)
Have a VERY Merry CHRISTmas!
