Welcome back!  If you haven’t read my last blog yet, I recommend going back and checking it out… If you have, welcome back!!  We officially began leader training for GAP year, Last Thursday!  I had some time at home between my summer training and this training, to reflect on all God did over the summer, pray into what He has for this upcoming year ( specifically my team), delight in my community at home, and to rest before headed out.  I’m so gratful I had that space and time! 

As I've asked the Lord what He has for this year, He has shown me a couple of areas to focus on. The first is prayer.

Over the last few years, the Lord has been growing my own heart for prayer in a deep way. As He's done that, He's also been showing me how He wants to lead my team into becoming a team marked by prayer and intercession this coming year.

I'm not completely sure what that will look like yet, but the Lord has already placed a few ideas on my heart. One is to incorporate a dedicated time of prayer into our daily gatherings and to create a prayer wall in each place we stay. I would also love to be intentional about praying over every place we sleep as we arrive, believing that the Lord will honor those prayers by protecting our team and making His faithfulness evident throughout the year. 

The second area I see Him growing us in is understanding what it looks like to have fun with Him. I’ve struggled in the past to understand that God’s heart is for us to delight in community, in each other’s company, and in the world He has created—in a pure and wholesome way, of course.

I’m learning that there is joy to be found in literally everything, even in suffering. When we turn our suffering into praise, something shifts that I can’t fully explain. There’s a joy and perspective that comes from choosing to praise Him even in the hard things. " for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” - Nehemiah 8:10

Anywho, I’m really excited to see what He has for us in this area—especially the fun, adventurous days that don’t necessarily involve suffering haha.  I’ve been sensing this is something God has for us and other people have been too!  

We just finalized our teams the other day and I couldn’t be more excited to meet them in just 3 days!!  

I'm also excited to look back at this blog in 9 months and see the Lord's faithfulness in walking us through these things. I am praying each of the fruits of the Spirit, Unity, and hearts ready to abide in Jesus over my team!  I would love for you to join me in prayer!