To write about my experience with the World Race and not write about each and every incredible soul on my team, I would not be expressing my experience authentically.
I have spent the last seven months of my life in intimate relationship with five women, five women that have shown me a taste of what life in the kingdom is like, five women that have held my hand when I hurt and cheered me on when I smiled. Five women that taught me authenticity, honesty, humility, service, care and unconditional love.
I could write novels about these women and the impact and beauty that they bring to my life, unfortunately, a blog for each unique and beautiful woman will have to do.
…
Sierra Strickland
Man, whenever I think about this woman I get excited. I get excited about the lives that she will bless through her smile and her creativity. Through the way she loves people and the way she sees people. Through the way that her existence is a manifestation of the Father’s love.
When I think of Sierra, I think of one of our squad mates birthdays. Sierra has this special gift of celebration. She celebrates people so well, so, of course she took it into her own hands to make our squad mates birthday the most fun, most beautiful, most celebrated night of her life. Sarah, our birthday girl, had gone out with her team for dinner that night, so during that time, Sierra didn’t hesitate to get busy with party preparation. She cleaned the entire house, blew up balloons, and got plenty of confetti. She placed beautiful table cloths and arranged special bouquets of flowers with notes around the tables. In a matter of an hour, the place was glowing with love that was a product of Sierra’s hands. As she was bustling in every which way to prepare, she did it with a pep in her step, a smile on her face and joy in her spirit.
The beautiful thing about Sierra is how passionate she is about the people she loves. When she loves you, you better believe you are going to be celebrated and honored. I would like to think that the way Sierra welcomes and celebrates people reflects how the Father celebrates us.
Sierra taught me how to be joyful, a statement I don’t say lightly.
Sierra walks in a posture of constant joy, a joy that is resilient and infectious. She Is authentic and honest. A woman who truly knows herself and is unashamed of it.
This beautiful combination of joy and authenticity gives us a beautiful picture of real, raw love. She will never try and pretend that everything is fine when it’s not and she is the first to speak up for the people around her. She fights for the people she loves with audacity and power. She seeks out injustice with an intentional glare and calls it out for what it is. She responds to injustice with a powerful spirit, a heart of humility, and ways of kindness.
Sierra serves with joy. She is always one of the first to volunteer for selfless acts, yet never volunteers out of obligation, but merely out of an overflow of the abundant joy that is within her that is clearly from the Lord.
Sierra is beautifully creative. Not just in the way that she writes and draws but in the way she speaks, in the way she sees other people, in the way she loves other people. She is one of the most eloquent people I know, hearing her talk is like listening to poetry. She uses her words to paint a beautiful picture of the kingdom and does it with gentleness and grace. She extends her creativity in the way she loves people, always looking for an opportunity to make people feel loved in a special way.
She LOVES to dance and is always looking for a dance party. She is not afraid to have fun and her atmosphere of joy is so infectious, it makes everyone else want to dance too. Her entire being is in a state of dancing in the way she lives her life: in joy, creativity and laughter.
Even if I could muster up all the words in the alphabet and describe all the colors of the rainbow, it wouldn’t come close the power, passion, love and joy of this woman.
Sierra Strickland is a force of nature in the way she loves and fights, she is gentle and valiant warrior for the kingdom of God and inspires me to follow suit.
If you know Sierra Strickland, tell her you love her today, she deserves it.
Everyone needs someone like Sierra in their lives. Thankful she’s on your team. 🙂
YUP. What a woman of God!!