I am currently writing this from Mombasa, Kenya where we are on our halfway though Kenya debrief! It's absolutely nuts how this trip has flown by. After this week, there is only a month left until I am back in America. I don't quite know if I have fully processed that yet, but I have been thinking a lot about the past 7 months on this trip. My leader Travis had an idea of making a list of things we have learned, so I decided to do that. Make a list of everything I can think of that I have been learning in my heart since being here. It is quite lengthy, and I may be adding stuff later as I remember them…but here you go!
I have learned how real God is.
What worship is; relationship.
That God wasn't lying when he said 'seek with all your heart and you will find me'.
God's nature, and how to be led by it in every situation.
How to love people out of the overflow of my relationship with God.
When missions comes before worship, we are out of whack. When missions flows from worship, everything changes.
How to find the greatness God has put inside of me.
I will never know all that Jesus really did. It's nuts.
God is so much bigger than I think.
How to be God's friend.
How to be God's bride.
My song. The song God sang over me.
How to listen to what God says about me.
I look like my Father. I do the things He does.
Worship is giving back to God the best He has given me.
How to love old people.
God is not afraid of our questions.
It's good to question what you believe.
Asking questions is how you find answers.
The emotions of the Father are beautiful, He is an intensely emotional God. When we take out emotions and submit them to His nature, we soar in that place of emotion.
The purest form of worship is the enjoyment of life, in the context of God's presence, with no consciousness of sin.
Worship silences the mouth of the liars.
I have learned so much about myself; what I like, what I don't like, desires put in my heart, fears, passions, and what it looks like to bring all of that to God. Even if it's messy.
Without an ox in a stall, the stall will be clean. But with an ox, there will be a harvest.
How to live in a reality of God's love that changes me by the littlest things each day.
The fruitfulness of the garden, and the barrenness of the wilderness.
How to see God in people, All kinds of people.
God is big enough to work though sin.
God is big enough to work though genocide, sex-trafficking, and poverty.
God is big enough to work through people who aren't Christians.
The reality of the freedom we have.
Find the secret smile of God first. Your private victory will always precede your public one.
The praises of man are a beautiful bouquet of roses, but in your hands they will wither and die. In the hands of the Father they are eternal.
How to be humble, and looking at the plank in my eye before the speck in another's.
God declares that I am righteous. Saying otherwise is diminishing what Jesus did.
The old testament rocks.
Everything I do is worship to the Father. He cares about the disposition of my heart in everything.
Good deeds are nothing but the result of the roots of my salvation, they will never be the means of my salvation. Ever. Nor will they be the means of God's approval of me. Ever.
Seek first the Kingdom of God and all else will fall into place.
If you are alive with the law you will only bear stillborns and miscarriages.
Worship changes reality. It is more real than anything we see.
How to step out of comparison- fight for those around you. Crush the seed of Cain with a spirit of Jonathon.
How to invest in every relationship I have.
How fun it is to be a child of God! And to let myself be surprise by him everyday and be in child-like wonder.
How to see deeper issues of sin and through that be broken rather than angry.
Confrontation is good.
Growth and change doesn't happen by trying to grow, or by focusing on what you need to work on; it happens by keeping your eyes on Jesus.
There is a huge difference between Christianity and the Kingdom of God.
God is outside of time.
No matter where you go, the church has problems…but it is still His bride.
My prayers are powerful and effective. Real talk.
There are spiritual parallels in everything.
Intimacy with Jesus is always the answer. Always.
I seriously can't believe that I will be home in less than a month and a half. I am nervous, excited, sad, and happy all at the same time. God has shouted so much truth into my heart, more than I probably realize now. This whole trip has been one giant journey of being allured deeper into God's heart and finding out who He is, and out of that, finding out about myself. I love when the Father brings us into these seasons! It has been a beautiful exchange of breathing worship and praise on God's heart and allowing him to pour back his adoration onto mine.
Thank you all so much for helping me come on this trip. Seriously, I am so grateful! Please be praying for this last month, that we will push through the exhaustion and be able to finish well even though we can finally see the finish line.
