"Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert. The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My chosen people. The people whom I formed myself will declare my praise. ISAIAH 43:18-21
My teammates and I drove into training camp with expectations to be shattered. We very quickly realized our God was too small and that He was waiting for us to make Him bigger, to worship Him in our own way, and to not place limitations to His goodness. This week I stopped wearing a shirt that fit me snuggly, but decided instead to put on a shirt that would take massive amounts of growth to fit me well. My whole life has been characterized by me wearing my tight fitting shirt of my perfectionist nature trying to manipulate my paths. All the while I have stayed within the comfortable, never stepping outside of who I thought I could be in Christ. I realized that if I was going to do this thing called The World Race God was going to need the control. He no longer wanted to be a passenger in my car. He no longer wanted to be an after thought in my decision making.
Walls within me have come tumbling down. I have more room for the Father's goodness. He has made a beautiful thing out of the dust. Honestly when He uses us as broken people His glory is more visible. I just want everyone to see, to hear, to feel, to smell, and to experience the Father because once you have it can not be contained within your skin. It leaks out for all to be experienced.
Not only did the Lord speak kindly to me in the wilderness (Hosea 1:14) but He challenged me. I mean how many people can say that they slept on a school bus with 53 packs and 53 other bodies, or ate soup that had fish floating on top, or wore the same cloths with no shower for three days? Every day brought a new challenge whether it was a new living situation or a new culture to experience. I was stretched in every different direction. The next 11 months will bring challenges, but nothing that MY GOD can not walk with me through. He is after all the God that walked into the midst of the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego and brought them forth without harm (Daniel 3).
Meet the team God has blessed me with that will walk with me through fire:
Welcome the Sanctified: 31 ladies- Erin Jackson, Anna Bolinder, Kylee Taylor, Whitney Huntley, Elizabeth Gonzalez (Likki), Liz Schuerger, and I
My team is beautiful, my team is strong, my team speaks in love, my team declares victory over their wounds through Christ, they partake in something more than themselves, they are warriors, they are prophets, and their words build things. They speak life into dead things and feed off the Jesus in each other. Join with me in declaring good things over my team.
