Final Blog Post for NC Trip

Wow, what a month. I’ve been home for a couple of days now and I’ve been trying to process this past month … the work that God did in my heart, the radical change that I saw in the people around me, the miracles I personally witnessed, the wild stories that would make absolutely no sense if God wasn’t a part of it. It’s been a lot, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’ve experienced the Lord in ways that I could have never imagined. I’ve developed a deeper love and adoration for the Father. I’ve grown, I’ve fallen, but most importantly I took another step in the lifelong process of following Jesus. 

The Last Week in North Carolina: 

The last week in Black Mountain was a lot of fun, but definitely bittersweet. Our team was able to serve at the Excel community on Monday and then we had our last two days at the thrift store on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was such an honor to serve that community and that ministry and the people there will always hold a special place in my heart. With that being said, I can’t say I will miss weed-eating … but it has grown on me a little (not a lot, just a little lol). Our team had our last all-team with the community last Tuesday and that was definitely difficult. Despite only living there for a month, those people became like family. They displayed the love and care of the Lord in such profound ways and I am beyond blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know them. I will 100% be making trips down there to visit them in the future. There were many hugs goodbye, well less of a goodbye and more like a “see you later” 🙂 Those people there truly are special and they had such a big impact on my relationship with God. 

Our Last Night in NC!

Now do I have a story from our last night in North Carolina. Our team decided to head up to the parkway to watch the sunset together for our last night there. It was so much fun and the views were amazing, but as we were watching, a group of three people came up to us and asked us who we were with. It turns out, one of the people in that group is from Florida and started the Ignite Student Ministry, but is also going to be going to Liberty in a year for his masters! Him and I exchanged our information and got to talking and I may have potentially met my roommate for next year at a parkway in North Carolina. Like someone try to explain that one to me … God is so cool! Now while that would have been enough for the night, it only got better. A little later another car came to where we were and they were playing worship music pretty loud. A couple of people from my team went over and asked them to turn it even louder and it turned into a night under the stars worshiping the Lord with total strangers! I’m getting chills just thinking about the divine timing of God and how He makes stories like these even possible 🙂 We ended up having the opportunity to pray over the other people and it was honestly just another God moment that I can’t explain. 

Debrief: 

The next day our team loaded up the travel van and made our trip down to Atlanta, Georgia for our debrief. This was so much fun and so cool because it was three other teams that were there as well having their debrief. I got to meet some really cool people from the other teams and have some pretty cool conversations! While debrief was a lot of fun, it was also a little sad because it was the end of the month, which meant the end of seeing my team every single day. And to be completely honest, I never would have thought I could get so close to 8 complete strangers in just over a month, but it happened. I love every single one of them and I would sacrifice so much for all of them. We formed a bond over the month that only is possible because of our love for the Lord. It was a small depiction of the love of the church. My team knows that I could literally write about them for pages … but I’ll just say that I am forever thankful for them and their hearts. During debrief we also heard some great messages about how to take what we learned over the past month and apply it at home. I learned some very practical advice and wisdom, with one of my biggest takeaways being that we are fighting from victory, not for victory. Now let me repeat that again, we are fighting FROM victory, not FOR victory! CHRIST HAS ALREADY WON THE BATTLE! There was so much more that I could say, but I’m going to probably talk about it in the next section so I’ll limit repeating myself haha 🙂 

Major Takeaways of the Month: 

Now I’ve thought about how I wanted to express these different takeaways and I think the best way would be for me to make a list of the different lessons I learned and/or was reminded of during this trip. Some of these may speak to you and some may not, but I would encourage you to ask God to open your heart before reading this list. Allow Him to reveal what He wants to reveal to you and then be obedient to what He is saying. It’s one thing to hear something and think it is good, but it is a completely different thing to take what you hear and actually apply it to your life. With that being said, here are some of my major takeaways from this month that the Lord has so kindly and graciously been teaching me: 

1. God is so much bigger and better than I can ever begin to imagine. Don’t limit God to a box and your expectations for your comfort. 

2. Comparison is nothing but a thief of joy.

3. The way we love other people is beyond important. People will know we are Jesus’ disciples by our love for one another (John 13:35).

4. Trials are not to be seen as situations that should be avoided. Each trial is a key that unlocks a door to minister to people that have been through the same thing. Allow your suffering and trials to produce perseverance, leading to wisdom so that you lack nothing (James 1:2-4).

5. THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY. This is something that I have never actually believed or thought was important, but after seeing the impact it had this past month I firmly believe that community may be the most important thing in your walk with God. 

6. This life isn’t about you. It’s about Jesus and everything that we do should be to glorify and honor Him. 

7. The church is the people of Christ and not just the building. This goes with community, but the importance of serving in a local church and loving the bride of Christ. 

8. Feelings are not the measuring stick of where God is. You have to be rooted in the fact that He will NEVER leave you or forsake you. And here is the thing, when your feelings don’t align with that, you have the authority to tell them to get in line! 

9. Failure, poor response, and disconnection are going to happen. It isn’t about IF it is going to happen or not, it’s about HOW you decide to move forward from that moment. Choose to lean into the Lord. 

10. Doing life with God is a lifelong process. Be humble enough to still learn because we always will have something we can grow in. 

11. It’s hard to hear God’s voice when you’ve already decided what you want Him to say. 

These are just some of the major points that I have taken from this past month and been asking God to apply into my life. I have had the privilege to have conversations with some extremely wise people and listen to them speak. I hope that at least one of these resonates with you and that you take the time to meditate on what God wants to do in your life. 

Once again, if you have read this far I’m so thankful for you, you truly do hold a special place in my heart! I’m so thankful for all of the support and check-ins this past month. I pray that you have been blessed from some of the things that I have shared and that the Lord has done in my life as well as my team’s! I’ll just leave you with some final prayer requests 🙂

• For my team: That they will transition back home and find a community where they can continue to grow. That they will serve wholehearted in all that they do. 

• For the Excel community: That they will continue to display the power and love of the Lord to everyone they encounter. 

• For the Black Mountain community: That the thrift store will continue to prosper as they minister to the kids there in the community. 

• For Myself: That I will be open to where the Lord leads me and that I will continue growing in obedience. 

• For Yourself: That God will use one of the things above to speak into an area of your life. That you will be obedient to the voice of the Lord. 

I love you guys and I have missed being home 🙂 Until next time …