Ireland 2008: True Leaders…

 

The biggest privilege of this trip was to serve this team alongside two of the most amazing people. Corey and I, along with our good friend and now co-leader Ashley Hall, were like 3 puzzle pieces made to fit together. During Leader Training, it was stressed over and over again that you need to be unified, serving and loving each other, working out any conflicts so that you are always united in love. I have never seen this process work so well! We truly came together beyond our friendship, into family.

 

Corey and I had a great trip. God confirmed over and over again that we are heading in the perfect direction for us as a couple. When we are leading a team we both are operating in our gifts, finding fulfillment and purpose in our activities. Does that mean everything went perfectly? Absolutely not! We learned a lot about how to encourage each other, carve time out of the schedule to build into each other. We learned that we need to save energy for our time together… not just fall asleep every night with a nod and a “see you tomorrow.” We learned how to work together and how to trust each other with decisions. It was a huge learning experience and was incredibly fun at the same time! We came home exhausted, thankful for an empty schedule, but so encouraged by all that we learned on the trip.

 

 

Ashley Hall has quickly become one of my favorite people! She moved to Georgia not long after Corey and I did and joined an internship program at AIM. With the internship she was matched up with a discipler – ME! We tried over and over again through the year to get together regularly, which never quite worked. But our sporadic meetings helped begin this beautiful friendship! Ashley joined our group as a Servant Leader and was a bit nervous about stepping into this role. She is always the nice one in the group… incredibly sweet and loving in every way. Knowing she would have to step into more authority was a bit nerve wracking for her. However, I have never seen someone make that transition so well! She absolutely loved our girls, but made sure bed time was on time and chores were always done! The most amazing part was how Ashley cared for Corey and I. For our anniversary she took over all responsibilities from dinner time on and sent us out for a date! When Corey and I came down with the stomach flu, Ashley stepped up as the go-to leader for two days to give us time to recover! When we split the team in half to cover two ministries – VBS and street evangelism – Ashley took all the responsibility for the VBS crew and kept them organized for a great week of ministry! She was amazing in every way, as a leader, as a friend, as a minister. We couldn’t ask for a better co-leader 🙂

 

I wrote in a previous blog that as I stepped into the role of “mothering” the team I knew that meant “it’s not about me. love sacrifically.” We as a leader team stepped into this together. One evening, during discipleship time, I gathered the girls to talk about the day and Ashley went to set up a foot washing area. I had brought plenty of Mary Kay pampering materials and after a long day on our feet with kids and walking through the streets, the girls gladly received the pampering!

 

As people have asked that ever fateful question “How was your trip?” my short answer has become “The best leadership experience I’ve ever had.” Between our great team who loved and respected us, and great leaders to serve next to, I couldn’t have asked for a better summer!