Celebrate

I'm going to keep this short and sweet today.

Life is a gift, and each new day is a reason to celebrate.

I have been reminded daily of the beauty and blessings that surround me. I wake up so thankful and the smallest things have caught my eye. There is joy in everything, we just need to choose to have eyes to see it.

I have been keeping a list of "1000 gifts" while here in Spain, inspired by a book with the same title. In a mere month and a half, I already have over 300 things that have brought me joy in my time here, and probably hundreds more that I have not written down. When you begin to write these things down, something starts to happen with your mind, and it becomes a daily ritual to scope out the details you would normally pass by without a glance.

Joy in the everyday. That's really all I want to leave with you today. From fall leaves, to yummy smelling candles, to writing with pink pens. Choose to celebrate even in the small things; because rejoicing in the small victories cultivates a grateful heart and a joyful life. You will then find yourself screaming from rooftops and dancing in kitchens....or maybe that's just me.

If you are going through something, take your eyes and thoughts off of it for a while. Go dance in a park, breathe in the fresh air, look around and say "thank you." That weight is bound to lift, and your toes will start tappin'.

Look around; His gifts are abundant.

What are you thankful for today?

Revelation of His Love

I sat in Moldova a year ago to this month, and breathed a sigh of sweet relief. I was part of a society that I didn’t know I was on the outside of, until I was on the inside. I finally felt and understood what I had only claimed to know for the ten years prior. I got it. I had a revelation of my Father’s love for me. It is one thing to know it, and another to feel it and live out the implications of it. I was loved by my creator. I was free. I could be me without fear of man because I knew in whom my identity came. I used my voice more and was much less afraid to step out.

I thought it was so wild how I could follow Christ for so long and yet never have a revelation of His love in such a transforming way. I had tasted bits and pieces of freedom, but not in a way that His love swept in and crushed things holding me back to the point that they had absolutely no hold. I had walls up that allowed me to view His love from a distance but never allow it penetrate my heart and captivate my soul. As His love transformed me to look more like Him, I began to look more like myself.

In the past, I was unsettled sitting alone in silence because my lack of freedom led to anxiety. As I continue to walk further with the Lord, I am learning to enjoy hanging out with myself. I am learning to enjoy my own company. I am learning to appreciate the creation that He made and the mind and gifts He's given me. I am becoming more and more settled in my identity and I love to just get away with the Lord and hang out alone.


I sat on the beach here in Spain by myself a year later and had a similar revelation to the one in Moldova. It was a revelation of His love that continues to bring insane amounts of transformation and freedom. I used to be afraid to do things because addiction ran throughout my family and I didn't want to get caught in it. I used to make decisions sometimes out of rebellion, or would fear the judgement and condemnation of others based on certain decisions. Many of these fears came from religion and were held there by lies. I am realizing that rather than making decisions based on those same things, I am now making them based on the revelation of His love. Rebellion isn't an issue because I know my Father's love for me. I don't fear what other people think of my decisions because they are based on His love. Addiction is no longer in my blood line, because I have a revelation of His love. I am free of these things and so much more. 

I thought for so long I knew what freedom felt like. I thought I knew what His love was. I am realizing that it is one thing to know it in my head, and a whole other thing to feel it in my spirit and allow it to transform the corrupted areas of my life. I am continuing to come to know what freedom feels like, and how it releases you to truly live abundantly. I am seeing how the more free I live, the more I give others permission to live free as well.

His love is real. It is captivating. It releases you to live free.

Are you allowing His love to transform you?

But If Not....

I stood on a rooftop, battling in prayer for a woman I had never met. 

31 years old, 3 kids and a husband. She was in the hospital in a coma. Her brain was inactive and the prognosis didn't look good, but I knew that my God was bigger and desires life for us.

After about a week of praying, Saturday came, and the doctors said her brain showed activity. Praise Jesus! She was coming back...

Sunday rolled around, and it got much worse again. My thoughts were what many try to tell us to comfort us when struggles come. "It always get worse, before it gets better, right? It has to get better..."

That's when I went to the roof.

I paced back and forth shouting prayers, with a deep yearning for this woman to breathe in new life; to wake up and be able to be a mom, a wife, a friend, and to live to see her kids grow and the world around her change more and more. 

Life, Lord! Life, life, life. Abounding, abundant, flourishing life. Awaken her, and breathe newness into her. Restore her body. Please, Lord, let her have new life.

I woke up the next morning to a text from my friend saying,

"My friend is with Jesus"

Great, my prayers for life were answered with death.

I threw my phone on the bed, honestly feeling a little defeated. I walked towards the bathroom to get in the shower, and as I walked, I felt a prompting from the Lord...go read the text again.

Why do I need to do that? I know what it said. It said she died. 

Turn around and go read it again.

I grudgingly walked back to my room. "My friend is with Jesus."

Oh my gosh, Lord. Forgive me. 

My eyes welled up with tears. How quick I was to look at my desires instead of rejoicing for a woman who was in the presence of the Lord. I sat on my bed and thanked my God who delights in answering our prayers.

I was praying for life, but in my finite mind that meant that her brain would wake up and breathe life into her lungs that were being inflated by a machine. I wanted her physical body restored, and I expected the Lord to show up in that way.

Not only did the Lord answer my prayer, but it was answered 100-fold. My finite mind couldn't bear for her physical body to perish, but His infinite mind delighted in restoring it all and allowing her to be in His presence for eternity.

I answered your prayer. How much more abounding, abundant, flourishing life can you have than face to face with me? She is whole, she is dancing, she is rejoicing.

In class the other day, we talked about the concept of "But if not..."

We were talking about it in terms of pursuing the Lord alongside dreams that continue failing. This phrase is used to show devotion to the Lord in the midst of trials throughout the Bible.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.

But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." 

Nebuchadnezzer was trying to get these men to worhsip idols, and the terms if they didn't was to be put to death in the fiery furnace. They stood in devotion to their one true God. The three men expected God to show up and save them from death. They knew that their God was faithful. Their prayer was to be delivered, and yet they said, "but if not" (meaning, but if God has other plans than the ones we have), we will worship Him anyways.

I was wondering what the reactions of the people who knew this woman I had been praying for would be. If I was a stranger feeling heartbroken and facing those moments of defeat, I expected there to be stories of heartache, doubt, maybe even a little anger that the Lord would take this woman from the Earth. I was invited to a Facebook group of people praying for her and her family. I explored the page and was astonished at what I found. Testimony upon testimony of the Lord's faithfulness. In the midst of the seeming tragedy of her death, people were proclaiming the goodness of the Lord. (Amen.)

I often give the Lord terms based on my expectations. I think I can negotiate with Him in prayer, and when I don't get my way I get upset, when in reality His goodness never faltered. I sometimes serve the idol of answered prayers and forget the One who has unwavering love for me. There are times it seems that He hasn't/won't answer prayers. In those times, I get the privilege of letting go of my desires, returning to the truth and saying "I want this to happen, but if not...you are good. You are faithful. You love me. You desire abundant life for your children."

In the midst of my but if not moments, may I always choose to say "Lord, you are good."

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Hey! I'm leaving for Spain today--Oct. 3rd! 

I am marching out to get equipped for the next 6 months to put legs on a dream the Lord has given me to start a girls home for young women who have completed programs (like Teen Challenge or others). I am wanting to open it for girls who need a place to go and grow in the Lord, and who's homes are not the best place for them to return.

I am about half way sponsored to do this program in Spain, but still need a little over $3,000 to stay all 6 months.  If you feel led to donate, please go here:

http://www.g42leadershipacademy.org/donate

Click: “Donation to Leadership Academy or other G42 Ministry” on the top tab
Click: “One-Time or Reoccurring Donation” on the top tab
Click: “Leadership Academy Intern”
Click: “Name of Intern” after you have input donation information

If you would like to hear more about my vision or G42, please don’t hesitate to email me at: laurenduhame@gmail.com

I will be updating blogs as I get a chance---hopefully sharing visions, revelations, and more of the goodness life with the Lord has to offer!

Thank you for all of your support! Love you all and can't wait to chat via internet over the next 6 months! 

Please pray for safety as I travel and for relationships to develop quickly and for further vision for this home. Thanks!

Dios te bendiga!! 

Cheers to New Seasons!

I’ve switched over to a new blog. The World Race season has ended and I’m onto a new one. This one filled with meeting God’s promises face to face and fulfilling dreams, passions and visions. I wasn’t going to continue blogging, but at the request of many, I’ve decided to venture on in the blogging world.

Going onto Spain, though exciting, is also a difficult step for me. I just nuzzled back into my life and have my sweet friendships back, and I am off again for a little while. I am sad to leave these people again, but so thankful for deeply rooted relationships in Christ. I am thankful for people who are selfless enough to push me to pursue the deep things of my heart—a more intimate relationship with the Father and pursuing the hearts of young girls who need to know where their identity lies.  What a sweet thing to be a part of!

I’ve decided that this is my favorite life stage. The mid-twenties. The time when the world is at your fingertips and you simultaneously tip-toe around hoping to make the right choices while jumping into things with a big, obnoxious splash. The time when you realize that your body is becoming a diva, and is not going to allow you to do the things with it that you used to without paying for it later--but you dance the night away anyways. The time when you decide to mold your passions into your life.

My all time favorite part of this time, though, is realizing what a GIFT we’ve been given in others. It’s the time when people are moving forward, and though we’ve been living life with them for so long, it’s time to give parts of them away because they were never ours to begin with. I am loving ushering friends into new seasons…marriage, travel, babies, engagements, grad school…the list goes on. We get to release each other through tears, laughter, celebration, joy, and my personal favorite….prayer. What a powerful thing to hand over and surrender to God what was never really ours and know with a joyful heart that His plan and purpose for them is far greater than we can imagine.

Thank you to my friends and family and various communities who love so well and so deeply. Thank you for filling cups to overflowing with God’s love. Thank you for grace when life gets messy and for joy when there are so many things to celebrate! Cheers to living life to the full…just as the Lord intended!

To those of you who are new...here is where life was before this blog started: http://laurenduhame.theworldrace.org/