For the past 3 months, I’ve been in Gainesville, GA. That sounds very anti-climatic considering around this time last year I was sharing with everyone how I was going to be in India right now on the World Race, and instead, I went to my hometown for the World Race. Although as soon as I figured out we’re staying in Gainesville for the first 3 months I immediately started looking for any other possible option, God has blessed me now with being able to sit and reflect on these past 3 months and say with confidence that there is truly no other place I would’ve rather been than Gainesville, Georgia! Thanks God! And with this blog, I want to share just why being in Gainesville has been the best experience of my life!
To start out I want to give a HUGE shout-out to the F squad leadership team! They have led with a Christ first mentality every step of the way and have cultivated a culture of abundance, thankfulness, praise, maturity, Godly discussion, grace, love, overcoming weakness together, humility, and respect. God really knew what He was doing when He picked the leaders for this squad! They came in right away and challenged us to embrace who the Lord calls us to be and who the Lord says we are. I made an instagram post a few months ago with a list of things the Lord was revealing to me while on the race and I think it’s fitting for this blog too so let’s go:
Be bold. Show grace. Forgive. Love fervently. Surrender all. Be honorable. Hope for better. God is mine, and I am His. Change is possible. God’s not worried. Be vulnerable. Show courage: leave shame in the dust. Listen to guilt and follow its conviction. Discern. The law was commanded, but grace was provided. Condemnation is a liar. rejoice. Let go. Move forward, never staying stagnant. Be the example. Follow God and no one else. Exalt God. Share God’s love. Walk-in humility. Love God above all else. Love people passionately. Submit to God. Walk in the Spirit. Share shame. Overcome shame. Sit with God. Be silent. Break free. Walk-in liberty, redemption, peace, righteousness, freedom, respect, and God-given endurance. Pray for change. Repent. Praise God in the hard times. Give the glory to God, and God alone. Listen to God, not your heart. FOLLOW JESUS. Intimacy. Community. Mission.
I wrote that week 2 of being on the World Race. The Lord’s timing is crazy! I couldn’t even imagine embracing all of that in the span of like 5 years, yet He chose to show my squad all of these beautiful things in just 2 weeks. When I say God is doing big things… mmm I mean it! You could tell just week one that God was getting ready to stir up some awesome things in our lives! But the cool thing is that I don’t have to be on the World Race, I don’t have to be in a different country, or even a different town, I don’t have to be living in christian community, and I don’t need to be getting daily sessions and having daily team times in order for the Lord to reveal more of Himself to me! He doesn’t require me to be where I am but he chooses to speak to me and He delights and rejoices when I say yes to where He is leading me! The power of saying yes to the Lord is actually insane!
How has the Lord been revealing Himself to you in this season of life? What things in your life is the Lord working for good? Is the Lord asking you to say yes to something? Or maybe even is the Lord asking you to say no to something?
Amen! There is so much truth here! I rejoice at every word that the Lord has given to you over the past 19 years! And we eagerly wait for more! Praise God!
Wow! This blog is like a stick of dynamite ?? and saying YES to the Lord is the fuse!
Great word Clayton, continue saying yes and walking in these God principle’s and watch and see what God does with you!
I think you got to feel the change more than a lot of other people on the race this year – at least the other racers went to a new area of the country or even a new part of their state. You stayed right where you were! But not in your heart and head. You’ve seen God’s new purpose for you and you’ve embraced the challenge to lead, support and love your squad so that F Squad can do mighty works in His name very soon!
So exciting!