Jeremiah 29:11

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future.’” –Jeremiah 29:11

God has been teaching me how to be thankful for my past, how to grow from it and how to let Him grow me instead of being a hindrance to my own growth. My testimony tells of many trials and tribulations I’ve had to face to get to where I am, to come to a truly desperate place, to really desire something bigger than myself; those situations brought me to the season I needed to be in order to truly, genuinely accept Jesus as my Savior, AND for it to be because I wanted Him, not just to fit in to a crowd of believers. I think something we often miss though, when we go searching for Jesus, and find Him, while trying to live out His commands, is that all He truly desires from us is our love. That’s it, just love. He wants us to show it outwardly to everyone we meet, and He wants us to die to our own selfish ambitions on a daily basis, being sure to put others’ needs before our own.

That’s what my second tattoo, a picture of a mountain, trees and stream represents: the hills and valleys of life. It serves as a reminder to me of how far I’ve come in my walk with Christ, as well as putting into perspective on how far I still have to go. It’s also a reminder that, even before I truly knew who Christ was/is, He was always there, right beside me, leading me along and protecting me as I went through life and fought my battles for me even though I had convinced myself, at least to a certain point, that I had done it all alone. It’s a reminder of his continuous presence: back then, in the present time, and for all eternity as I look forward to see where He will take me next. He is as steady as the stream, as continuous as the sun, as reliable as a mountain; and yet, even when the streams, the sun and the mountains cease to exist one day, He will STILL be there!

“Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on earth.” –Genesis 9:16

The placement is right about my heart; why? Well, because my testimony is God’s testimony through my life. God IS my life, so the placement serves as a reminder that I can trust God to understand my life and what the plan is for it; there’s no need to worry about His plan for me because he has it all under control. It also serves as a reminder to keep His Word, His Scripture written in my heart so that I may remember it at all times. It shows that even if I struggle to remain steadfast, He will always be standing steady, un-wavered by the enemy when he tries to come for me. It’s a reminder to never give up, to always persevere, and to really keep his commands locked away in my heart, knowing that whatever happens, I am to always follow them.

I pray every-day that God continues to break my heart for what breaks His; I want to be renewed each day, filled with his goodness and love each day, so that I never run out of either one in order to effectively pour out His goodness and love on any person I come to see. Ministry is life, and life is ministry; simple enough and easy to understand. However, it is a hard life to live. You have to be willing to be available, flexible and surrendered at ALL times, not just when you want to be. In truth, the Race is teaching me new ways to allow myself to continuously be available, flexible and surrendered.

It’s funny because that’s kind of the theme of an expedition route, so I’ve been seeing it as at least. It’s very much waiting to hear God’s voice, especially since the pandemic plays such a key role in our Race and is pivotal in how AIM determines each country we are allowed to go into each month. That being said, we are confirmed to be going to Jordan starting on December 15^th, and fingers crossed (they’re about 90% sure): Turkey the following month! Y’all, our time on the Race has been crazy already; and it’s different for every single person on the squad, in regards to how God is growing each and every one of us. It’s really what we should be doing all the days of our lives: listening for God’s voice in each and every step we take. How many people can honestly say they succeed in doing that every-day? I’m willing to bet that the only one who could truly say that would be Jesus himself, that’s it. On the Race, we are getting plenty of practice in doing so, but even we slip up sometimes because we are human.

My challenge to you this week: just give God ONE day. It may sound silly, but ask Him about every decision you have to make, and give him time to actually answer you. Just a single day adhering to God’s voice will give you a whole new outlook, I just know it!

“So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness.’” –Hebrews 3:7-8