SOAR

"Don't allow fear to stop you from stretching.."

-Pastor Truston Baba (Living Church)

January 2018 is halfway over, and I have already been back at SAGU for a week.. Time flies. Each new year, I pray and ask the Lord for a single word for the upcoming year. This year, the word "soar" has resonated in my spirit. The more I thought about the word that the Lord gave me, the more complex it seemed. Soar is such a strange word for a new year. Usually, for me, it's always been words like bold or intentional (2016 & 2017).

I have recently done some soul searching and have come to the realization that I have been too dependent upon people and not dependent upon the Lord in the past. The year of 2018 is going to be such a big year. I guess some would call it a year of change, but "change brings growth and growth brings change." I now understand why I was given this crazy word: I am going to soar this year. This is my year. I am claiming it. Between starting my sophomore year of college, interning at Castillo Del Rey, and having many crazy adventures, I know for a fact that God has something big for me this year. I am expectant and I am ready (I guess you could never be fully ready and prepared, but I'm close enough).

In church yesterday, the pastor said something so profound that I haven't been able to get it out of my head: "Don't allow fear to stop you from stretching." I want to live in the uncomfortable this year. I refuse to live in fear of the unknown, because I am covered in the blood of Jesus and living in obedience. I want to stretch in so many ways, and I want to live crazy in the season that God has placed me in.

In less than five months, I will be embarking on a journey to be an intern in the country that I have grown to love over these past 3 years; this will be my biggest adventure yet. I cannot tell you how many times people have asked me if I am going because Nathan is there for this year. My answer is simply that the Lord has spoken and laid out a path for me to go to Nicaragua this summer. How disobedient would it be for me to not go just because I'm scared of what others might think? I refuse to back away from what God has for me just because of other people's doubts. I am here to tell you that it may sound crazy, but I am soaring into big things this year. Some people may question it, and that's okay, but I am just living unapolagetically in the will of God and that gives me peace that surpasses all understanding.

Friends, as you embark on this new year of new challenges, my prayer for you is that you will also SOAR. There is nothing that can stop you.. well, except for you of course. I believe that God isn't just wanting me to soar, but He is wanting all of us to soar into the seasons that He has placed us in. Live boldly this year and every year.

This is my year. This is your year. This is our year.

As always, if there is anything you need prayer for or just a friend to listen, I am always here. Blessings!