This is part two of a blog I posted back in May. Check it out here to get all caught up!
'So you’re going by Sara now?’
That was the most asked question when I returned home in May from being in Africa the past 5 months. The Lord took me on an unforgettable journey those few months. I had highs and lows, good days and bad days, sick days and healthy days, days where we saw angels and days where we just cried out for God to show up in any way possible. It was an emotional rollercoaster from the beginning and coming home was no different.
Arriving home I knew that I was a changed person, and I couldn’t wait to share that with everyone. I had explained the story of my radical transformation more times than I could count on my fingers and toes, but I knew the Lord wasn’t done. The Lord is never done! He always wants to grow and change you more and more and so I continued on my rollercoaster. I had signed up for school and was planning on going in the fall but through a series of events, it seemed as though that wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t sure what was going on. What other option did I have? Well, I had attended a training camp back in June and had just asked if they had all the leaders they needed for the fall. They didn’t and so I said, go ahead and put my name down. The words came out faster than expected and by the end of the day I was telling my parents that I was leaving again.
I knew that leaving again wasn’t going to be an easy thing for them to handle. I had just returned home, my sister was getting married and moving away, on top of a bunch of other things. Leaving was the last thing on their mind but it quickly became one of the only things. I knew that this is what the Lord had wanted me to do, so I obeyed. I had asked to not be sent back to Africa, I was over it. I needed something new. So, when August rolled around and I got the e-mail saying I was going back to Africa, to Uganda to be exact, my body went numb. It took all but three seconds for me to get beyond excited for this next season. Uganda. Redemption. Transformation.
Coming back was a mixture of emotions. I had been on such a journey of change the past eight months I wasn’t sure what was left to change. The Lord spoke to me and told me that this next season was a season of ‘fine-tuning.’ The things that He had done in me He was going to be fine-tuning even more. I was excited about the continuation and ready for whatever He put in my path first.
My outer appearance is something that I have always struggled with being confident in. I never really wanted people to see me for who I was, but that slowly started to change on my last trip. I became more confident in knowing that the Lord created me and He has created me beautiful in His eyes. Adding things to myself or changing things about my appearance was something that I did on a regular basis. I was always dying my hair, or changing my style of clothing. Later on I got piercings and tattoos. All those were temporary (okay, not really the tattoos) but they left no lasting satisfaction. At the end of the day, I still didn’t like how I looked.
‘Take it out.’ I heard the words one day during my daily talk with God.
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘Because, that is who you used to be. Take it out and move on’ He responded.
‘Okay, if You say so.’
So, Monday morning I took my nose ring out. So strange the way the Lord speaks to me. I loved my nose ring, and I still love it. But, adding onto myself isn’t who I am anymore. Walking in who the Lord created, that’s who I am. I am still transforming and becoming more fine-tuned. I’m becoming more emotionally, spiritually, and physically healthy. It’s all part of the process. I’m a temple and the Lord lives inside of me.
Until next time,
Sara.
Stella and I on Monday morning.
