Here is my new family (O Squad) I will be serving alongside of this next coming year!
If you were to tell me these “strangers” would become like family in just one week, I probably would’ve laughed & said yeah sure, but What I Didn’t Know is that they would become like family & that they’d become like family so quickly & easily! This amazing group of people have hearts on fire for the Lord. They love one another deeply, are kind, caring, compassionate & authentic. Their love for the Lord is so evident & was definitely felt this past week!
What I Didn’t Know was just how much we as humans need & desire a life of community like that of which I got to experience this past week. I know I desire fellowship with other believers especially those my own age, but I didn’t know just how much it’s needed. This was the first time I’ve really experienced the body of Christ coming together the way we should, what that looks like & how to better live it out. (Which is/definitely will be a work in progress) And man, the thought of spending a year like this & I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around it! So Exciting! My prayer in all this though is that I can take what I’ve learned & share it to those around me so that they too can also experience this!
Acts 2:42-47
Romans 12:3-13
1 Corinthians 12:25-27
Hebrews 10:24-25
1 Peter 4:8-11
What I Didn’t Know is that my “yes” to this calling would effect so many other people around me. People I know really well, people I kind of know, people I don’t know at all or some who I may never even meet. I mean, shoot, I wrestled with my own thoughts of “should I go or not?”, “Is God really calling me to this?”, so on & so fourth, that thinking about how this would effect others (& Just How Much it would impact others) outside of my family & work didn’t even cross my mind. But after this past week, I’m realizing that this has so much more of an impact on others than I even realized or still even realize. I mean outside of God, who knows just how much impact you have on all the different things you do in life, good & bad. Sometimes we get to see the fruit, but then I’m sure there’s an endless amount that we don’t see throughout our lives. Over the past few years, I’ve slowly been learning just how important the small, mundane, boring things are. (Definitely not always easy & still a continuous work in progress) But if you think about it, all of life is comprised of all the small things adding up to make the big things. It’s not to say that there aren’t any big things in life, but that those big things came only after the building & foundation of the small things. So don’t overlook the small things. God can & will use you right where you are. Don’t underestimate what God might use/do to change a person’s life. (I’m speaking this for me too!) I’m praying that through my decision to say “yes” others will be impacted in a positive way. I pray that God will provide each individual that I’m “leaving behind” just exactly what they need. I pray that through this my fellow brothers’ & sisters’ faith will grow stronger in the Lord & that those who don’t have a personal relationship with the Lord will come to know Him as their personal Lord & Savior.
Luke 14:26
If anyone comes to Me and doesn’t hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, and even his own life – he cannot be My disciple.
(hate meaning to love Jesus more than anyone or anything else)
Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.”
On a less serious note; What I Didn’t Know was just how big of an appetite I would come back home with! lol Y’all! I came home & cooked a meal big enough to maybe feed my whole squad or at least half of them for myself! Plus, chocolate covered pretzels! I was HUNGRY! lol
