It Has Begun!

Well, I’m finally here.

I’m sitting in my pretty awesome house in Gainesville, Georgia. Technically I’ve been here since September 12^th, but this is the first time life has slowed down enough for me to actually give everyone an update!

Let me begin by saying that I am extremely pleased with my decision to come here. It’s been something of a non-stop ride since I got here, and I’ve loved it. Being at the Adventures in Missions headquarters is awesome. I could probably sit here and talk about how cool everything is, but then you’d never actually know what I’m doing! So I’ll talk about that instead.

To preface, God has taught and spoke to me about a ton of different things in the short span I’ve been here. I mean, I’ve learned new lessons and re-learned old ones. Now that I think about it, it’s been kinda crazy. I’ll try and be brief to let you hear a bit about some of them!

The first week we were here was called “Ramp Up Week.” Basically it was a week long orientation and teaching time. Only difference between normal orientations is that we spent 4 days of it hiking and camping around North Georgia. If you know me, you know I enjoyed this part immensely. We were camping by a river in the middle of the woods in a pretty part of the U.S. It was great.

In this time God spoke specifically to me that it was time to let some things go and let Him move into those spaces. Let him wash and cleanse me in the river of His love and grace and let Him take me on a wild ride whichever way He saw fit. I thought it sounded like a good plan. So that’s a mindset I’ve been running with ever since.

Next we finally got to start CGA itself. This past Tuesday we began our internships. This comprises of an apprenticeship (work somewhere in the office), track time (teaching times where we learn about various leadership qualities), discipleship (we are paired with an older, wise discipler for the semester), and community events.

I was incredibly excited about this. I was itching to get into my apprenticeship and track time. What I didn’t realize until later was that I had placed some pretty hefty expectations on this time. I had these big plans and ideas about all the cool stuff I would get to do. Basically, I wasn’t doing what I wanted to do. I (and my fellow leadership track people) am placed in the World Race department working on various projects as they come through. We’re doing some stuff that the rest of the office doesn’t have time for, but is still necessary. This isn’t what I thought I’d be doing. So I went through a brief time of what can only be described as pouting.

I went through an entire day like this before I asked God what the heck the point was. Why did He bring me here just to run around the office doing things of little consequence? He simply gave me this: His realities are always better than my expectations. I’m here for a reason, a big one, and He hasn’t even remotely forgotten me. So I should probably calm down.

He was right. In that short span I’ve already made numerous connections and done some really cool things! Including my “small” projects. The audacity I had to think I could roll into Adventures and suddenly be a big shot was insane. And I’m a little embarrassed by it. But now I see just how important every bit of this is, and I’m here to soak up as much as I can! You have no idea how much I’ve learned in the 4 days I’ve been working there. It gets me excited to think about!

Not only that, but there are so many exciting things going on with me personally. God has been talking to me. He’s been telling me that it’s time to get rid of needless distractions in my life. To clear away things so I can focus. So, He laid on my heart to do a fast of sorts. I’m currently fasting from forms of entertainment. TV, movies, games. Anything that can distract me from Him or being in community with others. I have a tendency to be closed off and go by myself to watch TV or movies on my laptop. Or even play video games quietly for a while. I decided that it wasn’t helping at all, so I’m cutting it out! I'm curious to see how God uses my newfound time and what cool things I can get into.

And I don’t want to say anything prematurely, but I think He’s got some huge things coming my way on a few different fronts. He very well have just let me see a sneak peak throughout the week. Let me tell you, I’m through the roof excited. I’m whipping out my notebook and scheming about all sorts of things. Could very well be big. Could very well not. We'll all find out together.

Finally, He’s been coming through with fundraising. I’m over halfway to my fundraising goal! HOOOORAAAAAY!! Praise God for my partners both financially and prayerfully!! I’m so excited!! Thank you to any and all who have either donated or prayed for me. It’s evident and I’m so thankful for it.

That being said, I still need $2,000 by November 1^st. So close! I need just a bit more! If you’re interested in donating follow this link to find out how you can:

http://runningwiththeriver.blogspot.com/p/center-for-global-action.html

As you can see, I’m doing pretty good. My apologies for not updating sooner, but I’ve had a lot going on. I will be posting a lot more in the future!

I love each and every one of you! Thanks for taking a beat to read my blog! Subscribe on the right side of the page if you never wanna miss a post!

Godspeed, m’friends.

Seth