Bold & Seen: Part 1

For those of you who don’t know, before the Race started, I bought a prophetic key from an organization, formed by a previous World Racer called “Keys for the Journey”. It was formed as a means to fundraise, but it’s meant to give you a word to pray over and seek out why it was given to you. Once you order one, you can either get a word, chosen by yourself, etched into the key or you can get someone to prophesy over the key, getting a word they feel is given to them by God. I can understand the original skepticism, wondering if it’s actually true, BUT it has proven to be true. 

What does it mean to be bold, according to Scripture?: “By your mighty power I can walk through any devastation, and you will keep me alive, reviving me. Your power set me free from the hatred of my enemies.” ~Psalm 138:7 TPT

I may not be vegan, but this place has some of the BEST coffee I’ve had yet. Plus, other than Starbucks, it’s one of the only places that actually have soy, coconut or almond milk, not just regular cow’s milk.

My prophetic word is “seen”, but I did feel another word come to mind when I had asked for the key (“bold”), so I asked if ‘bold’ could be etched onto one side and then the prophetic word to be etched onto the other. At the time, I was stressing over fundraising, making some final decisions/placing final touches on all my last minute things, before finally getting into the car with my mom to go pick up my last check from work. We had driven by the mailbox, hoping to find the package with my key inside…and there it was! 

I began carefully unwrapping the box, before finding a small, silky smooth pouch, taking in a deep breath before gently dumping the key into my hands. When I saw the word “seen”, I immediately began weeping because my mom and I had just finished talking about how I hadn’t felt very seen or heard by anyone recently, especially by people I thought were my friends in my young adults group. Rumors were spread about me, creating a lot of tension within the group, and I honestly felt like I was alone. So, when I got that key, I knew that the Race would not just be physically and spiritually hard, it would also be emotionally and mentally hard; I didn’t realize at the time how right I would be.

How (and why) do you listen to God’s voice?: “Now I’ll listen carefully for your voice and wait to hear whatever you say. Let me hear your promise of peace – the message every one of your godly lovers longs to hear. Don’t let us in our ignorance turn back from following you.” ~Psalm 85:8 TPT

We found a random train in the midst of the desert, which I assume is probably a cargo train.

At first, I was so confused, but mostly, I was just afraid for what could be headed my way in regards to being “seen”. I was afraid that my squad would reject me, or that maybe I wouldn’t really have a specific place within the squad, let alone in my team. And it was a hard wrestle as the first three months passed: being in quarantine, getting to Theth and finally being a team, personal conflict and emotional turmoil, and much more. BUT, seeing how He would keep providing in everything, how He sent our team to Croatia when we literally thought there was no way, getting food from our bnb hosts because they wanted us to eat something more than pasta and/or rice, having lodging be provided without paying for it (quite a bit more than I thought would happen) and the list goes on.

I really started to feel seen when my faith was emboldened in different situations, especially here recently during our last weeks in Ukraine, and our whole time here in Jordan. I spoke out more, I led worship and sang out many times, I started conversations with strangers a lot easier, keeping them going a lot longer, getting to really talk in depth about the Gospel and how God loves us all in new ways. Y’all, God has been growing me so much!! My teammate from Amadea (and also 138; she came with me), Madie, has seen every step of growth since our time in Durres, Albania at the end of month 1 for debrief/training for the beginning of month 2. I finally started to feel loved because I started accepting love.And part of the keys for the journey?? You give it away to another person who you feel could learn from it, who would pass it down to someone else when they feel they have grown in that way. And I think I know exactly who it’s going to…but I’ll keep you in suspense until part 2 is posted.

What does Scripture say about being seen by God? “Let everyone be devoted to fulfill the work God has given them to do with excellence, and their joy will be in doing what’s right and being themselves, and not by being affirmed by others.” ~Galatians 6:4