It has been an interesting few weeks. Since my last post and my fundraiser at Five Guys I saw a lot of support come in and for that I say a great big thank you!!! Now just $1700 to go to make the launch deadline in the middle of August. Which is still a big amount but God keeps making a way!
This last week was a tough one in almost every way. Physically I was fighting something off and felt really under the weather, like I was running in slow motion. Everything was harder. Add to that a little bit of an aching heart and you’ve got quite the mix… But there’s always beauty to be found. I got to slow down and spend time with family and friends and had a mental break going fishing on the river and to the driving range which I really enjoyed!
Then one night I was sitting on the couch at around nine or ten at night and I couldn’t shake the feeling that God wanted my attention. The feeling just wouldn’t lift. You know how it is when you know someone’s staring at you waiting for you to look at them? It was like that. I felt led to pull myself away and just get alone with the Lord. So I finally got up, grabbed my keys and went out the door without a destination…
I ended up driving around Huntsville that night with Jesus riding shotgun. I just needed to be with Him for a while. I drove and I drove. I’d turn off my praise music and be silent. He was so present. And I knew He was wanting to tell me something so I just listened and breathed in His presence and let it fill up my spirit and as it did I ended up just pulling over and having a good cry. And as I did that He filled me with words of encouragement that strengthened my resolve that I am pursuing what He has for me, going on the world race. Everything has been going and going but at the end of the day, at the end of the night, it’s all about Jesus, to know Him more and follow Him better.
That may seem very personal, but I share it because it’s the beauty of knowing Christ!
There was a Disciple-Now weekend several years back that I was leading a group of high school senior girls. Most of the kids were church kids but one of them was a girl who was lost as a billy goat as they would say… She was loud and disruptive and longed for attention in any way she could get it but on the other hand she had strong trust issues and defense mechanisms. I reached out to her and after watching me for a while she finally decided that I was genuine and from then on she wouldn’t leave my side.
We were standing in line for dinner the second night and she finally came out and asked what all of us saw in this religion stuff. I remember looking at her and telling her that it wasn’t about religion, it was about Jesus. I remember her eyes, so intense, completely focused on me, darting back and forth between my eyes as I told her that it didn’t matter what she had done or who she had done it with. That she, at that moment, was 100% forgivable and loved by God. That moment changed her life as she began to believe for the first time that it might be true and she eventually came to know Christ.
Knowing Jesus is everything. And walking out this life with Him calls for courage, something that I thought I knew something about until I began to meet my squad.
A squad mate of mine wrote a post the other day that completely blew me out of the water. She was talking about how her life may not look like what every one else wanted her life to look like, but it didn’t matter to her because she was following Christ wherever He might lead. That is called sold out! And there is a joy that comes from that!
Training camp is coming up and then launch is not far off after that. There will be ups and downs, humanity and humor will probably be coupled more often, but if I’ve learned anything on this journey it’s this… If God’s working on something in your life or if he’s taking you through something, two things are most likely for sure…
1. The process won’t look like what you thought it would look like.
2. It will take longer than you had expected.
The race may not be what I picture it to be at all! And it may take longer to raise the $16,000 than I would like! But I just have to rest in knowing that He who has called me is faithful and know that I will be equipped for every good work. Thanks for everyone who has joined me in this journey!
Blessings,
Sarah
