Over the course of the past month my brain has been processing emotions from every angle. Excitement. Stress. Laughter. Love. Fear. A smorgishboard of little thought bubbles. There have been fears, concerns, worries and feelings of inadequacy as I step out in faith. The enemy loves to make us feel weak. But there has been encouragement, truth and light spoken into me through it all.
The piece that hit me the most has been the fact that the best practice I can put I to effect before the race is prayer and time in His presence.:
A friend of mine prayed over me recently and she said, God wants you to know this six months before the race is going to be emotionally taxing. He is preparing your heart for just the beginning of all He has in store. Don’t worry about the finances, because when He calls He provides and where you feel weak, He is already beginning to strengthen.
That prayer and words of wisdom haven’t left me as He has met me in my quiet times and spoke those prayers into motion.He has always met me as I simply long to be with Him. I can spend time with Him and ask Him for growth, but nothing I can think or imagine is going to match all that He has in store for me, my teammates, and the lives of people we will encounter. He knows hearts and He knows humans and as much as we think the Race may be one thing, He has all of it planned for His kingdom and it’s exciting to think about, especially as I no who I am; a free loving spirit who…
has only camped as many times as I have fingers.
is not a master fire starter or hiking Queen.
is not gifted in a multitude of languages
cannot read a map to save her life.
No book I read, other than His word, is going to prepare me for long nights in the wilderness, moments of exhaustion, moments of the unknown or anything of that nature.
No person, other than Jesus Himself and the love of community, is going to grow me. He is moving to do so, placing people, love and life around me.
I love to imagine. Imagine what I will encounter, who we will meet and the love that is already in motion. But daily He reminds me, it’s not about all that you can prepare for, it’s about all He is going to do. Like I wrote in my last blog post, we have a whimsical God- He loves helping you uncover the beauty that lies within you, the adventureR you were made to be, the child you have always been.
He is about the heart, the emotional readiness, the spiritual openness and as much as I want to prethink and plan for all He has ready, He whispers to step back and just enjoy the journey. God takes hold of things and adds awesomeness we never knew to be possible. He knew the Race was next and as easy as it is to worry about finances, what tent to buy, if you will be able to do all He has called you, the answer to those questions stands second to the fact that He is readying me for something greater.
The Race is about abandonment, sacrifice, selflessness, compassion, love, grace, and simply stepping where He calls us and more than anything I want to be ready for that. To set my mind towards the things He is already doing that we cannot see and put the worldy worries out the door, God knows we all need more of heaven within us.
I can’t wait for all He has in store and He knows even though I am not perfectly ready in all the ways i may think I need to be, I am His and open to where He is guiding and that’s right where He wants all of us, Racers and children alike. He wants us to walk with Him and share in the beauty of His love and plan.
When we set aside the notions we have for all we think may happen, we allow freedom to take hold of us and for life to breathe , His life.
Jesus simply breathe on us as we step closer to you! Stoked for all He has planned 🙂
-V
