I know it has been a while since I last updated. Consistency with something like this is not something that I’m great at. I guess the best place to start was that the rest of my trip to Wisconsin since I last updated was amazing. I grew so much in my relationship with Christ on that trip. My team from there will always be my family. After Wisconsin, I went back home trying to get back to normal. That didn’t last long at all. My plan to get a job after coming back went out the door almost immediately. God wanted me to go back with Adventures, this time to Asheville, North Carolina which was originally my other option than Wisconsin.
So I’ve been here in Black Mountain, North Carolina right outside Asheville for a month now and I come back home the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I’ve been doing ministry at a thrift store called Mountain Home Thrift Store. Where all the money that they make goes straight to the Black Mountain Home for Children. Which is more or less a foster home but they teach kids the Gospel and try to give them all the skills that they will need to succeed in the real world. We have not been able to actually interact with the kids at all because of state laws prohibiting it during the pandemic. However, we were told there is a chance we might be able to do that before we leave depending on if government restrictions lessen.
I have a very small team here, if I’m not mistaken its Adventures smallest team for a trip ever. There are only four of us including our leader. Me, Trvyn, Peyton, and our leader Summer. However, because of where we are staying it really doesn’t feel that small. We are staying on the campus of an organization called Excel. Which is sort of a college program but it only lasts a little more than a year. At first, I could not stand staying here. Mostly, because they had a thing called all team every Tuesday and Thursday night where everyone at Excel would meet in one of the houses have dinner, then worship, and a message. The worship and message didn’t bother me. They are usually really good. The part that made me not be able to stand it was sixty people in such a small area, basically just three rooms. I felt overwhelmed and would shut down at the first few. Now they aren’t so bad, not my favorite time of the week but I just rely on God’s strength to get me through and usually just focus on one person to talk with.
This brings me into what God has been teaching me since I was in Wisconsin. Where I am putting my identity. I thought I putting my identity in Christ but I’ve since learned just how much I let other things define me. There is more than just this but the biggest one that God has revealed to me was how much I put my identity in other people. I care so much about what others think about me based on what I’ll say or do. It has kept me from saying what I really believe and what I want or need. Slowly but surely God has been showing me this and through His strength, I’ve been readjusting my identity on Him.
Thank you all for spending the time to read this. Thank you to those who have been praying for me while I’ve been gone and for those who have supported me financially. I want to say I’ll update more frequently but I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep.
