Do you know what we did today?
That was the phrase of the day. Well, the one day...
I had the chance to go to Liverpool recently. That's correct. I had a week that I was able to take some time off so I decided to go to Liverpool to spend some time on The Next Wave. It's basically a mobile YWAM base. This ship is twinned with YWAM Harpenden and it is used as an outreach center and YWAM training facility. It sails all across Europe and the Mediterranean for Evangelism, Training and Mercy ministries. It has been docked in Liverpool for the last little while.
So I got to spend a few days just hanging out on the boat with the other crew, staff and the current School of Evangelism (SOE for those familiar with the endless amount of YWAM acronyms) that was taking place while I was there. But before I go into that, here's a little story for you:
One of these days, 4 of us - Oz, Luke, Phoebe, and myself - decided to take a little trip up to the Lake District to have a picnic.
Pretty sweet.
It was then decided, why not go to Scotland?
OK.
So we kept driving and a few hours and a few stops on the side of the motorway later...
We saw lots of sheep, open fields, and wooly cows.
We finally made it to Edinburgh.
Some of our conversations went like this:
"Do you know what we did today?"
'No, what?'
"Well, we left from Liverpool and drove to the Lake District for lunch. Then we decided to keep driving so we came all the way up here to Edinburgh. And now we are going to go back to Liverpool tonight."
'Wow.'
"I know."
We explored a bit, had a delicious dinner (I had some haggis), watched the sunset a bit over the castle then began the long journey back to Liverpool. It was a good day.
So, back to the Next Wave in Liverpool.
As stated above, I got to just spend time and relax and rest on the boat and explore Liverpool a bit. This meant relaxing, having really good conversations, and lots of time spent at Costa Coffee and Waterstone just reading my book. My book of choice being "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". (That was 326 pages of good reading).
It also meant getting to climb this:
Yep, that's me on top. It was neat.
Also some slacklining:
This week I was really challenged in my thinking simply by just being there and resting and talking to the people there. I was challenged in my thinking of what it means to be a leader and the areas that I want to and can grow in and what that can look like. But I think that biggest thing that I was challenged and encouraged with was simply TO DREAM. I've never been one to dream. I've never been one to have an answer to the question of, what do you want to do with the rest of your life, what do you love to do, where do you see yourself in 5 years, etc. So when I was posed with the statement - I want you to dream - I was filled with such excitement that I made a long list of all the things I want to do in my life, big and small. These things are already being fulfilled and I'm excited for more of that. I'm excited for what God has for me and the places He wants and is going to take me if I am willing. There are so many things I want to do and the fact that I can actually do those things is so exciting.
I love being in this place of being excited for the possibility and potential of what could be.
Overall, I had such a great week of rest and refreshment. It was so great to be in such a new environment with new amazing people and feel so at ease and welcomed and relaxed. I hope that's not the last time I get to be on that ship.
It's on my list.
