Hey everybody I just wanted to hop on and give a quick takeaway of what I learned this semester. 

Going into Gainesville I had very mixed feelings. When AIM first came out and told us that we would be staying in Gainesville for 3 months, I was not for it at all. I struggled with the idea of being in Georgia living in a tent,  when I originally had planned to be overseas for 9 months. But I decided to trust God through it, and I went. So i’m gonna share about what I learned through community, spiritually and missional.

Man, the community was such a blessing. Easily one of the sweetest seasons of my life so far. Getting to dive in with a new group of people and build such a healthy, Jesus loving community where you're genuinely loved and cared for.

One thing I learned about community is Feedback. Feedback is anything that edifies the body. Meaning, encouraging someone to look more like Christ, speaking the truth in love. Pointing out ways of living that don’t align with scripture. So the better we know the word, the more beneficial our feedback comes.

 Before the race it was something that I didn’t really know much about, but it’s truly such a gift.  It’s really cool to have a group of people willing to call you higher into places, out of LOVE.  Because of feedback I've grown in places that I didn’t know I needed help in. They’ve shown things in me that I didn’t recognize I had, and they’ve helped me grow in these areas. 

Spiritually, I learned so many different things about our Father. I fell in love with the word of God, it was so cool to see it alive and moving. I would read something and then see how those verses apply in my life. Getting to learn from the Bible has been such a cool experience. 

Another thing that I’ve been growing in is hearing the Lord's voice and recognizing that he speaks to me so much more than what I would expect. Listening prayer is one of my favorite things to do. It's such an amazing experience sitting there and letting God speak to me and then sometimes getting to take what He’s telling me and share it with someone else to build them up. I’m really enjoying getting to workout this spiritual muscle. 

Missional, I learned how to be bold and courageous. I had a lot of fear going into evangelism (I still do) but I learned that being courageous is recognizing your fear but still walking out in boldness to do what we’re called to do. Because of that I was able to have some amazing conversations with some incredible people. It’s been really cool to see how the Lord has used me in these different conversations to be a vessel for Him.

Gainesville was amazing. I took leaps instead of steps in my walk with Jesus. I’ve grown so much in these last 3 months and I’m just so thankful for the World Race that I've been able to go on this adventure and Jesus just flip my life for his Kingdom.