Welcome back to what, in my professional opinion, is the best blog of all time! This week I want to tell you a little bit about my team and our name. First, let me tell you what a team is in case you are sitting there like “what the heck is she talking about?” SO, First I am on a squad of twenty nine other men and women who I will be doing everyday life with for the next nine months. This group of twenty nine is then broken down into teams of five or six people who you will do all your ministry with and usually live most closely with. I have four other AMAZING women on my team: Sofia, Lacie, Camille, and Abby (There is a link to their blogs on the left hand side and you should absolutely check out what they have posted!). And we can’t forget our fearless leaders Maggie and Bernadette. 

Alright, now that you are all caught up with what a team is I can tell you about our name (which is the best, again, in muy professional opinion). Each team picks a name that is meant to describe them to give to ministry hosts as we travel. Are you ready to know ours? DRUM ROLL PLEASE….CAYA. It stands for “Come As You Are” which embodies our team perfectly. Each of us has come from a different background, gone through different things, and yet and still we all ended up here, just as we are. The five of us are unapologetically ourselves in every moment of everyday. Coming as we are not only to each other but to God is something that carries a lot of weight in each of our lives so it seemed like a great fit.

AND THAT’S NOT ALL. Now I know what you’re thinking, “Sarah, that’s already fantabulous, how could there possibly be anything else”. Well, let me tell you. Our team leader, Maggie, has felt a call on her life the past year to open a women’s ministry called “Come As You Are” so our name is also a tribute to her. We want to love and honor her everyday and how better then naming ourselves after something so important to her. Not to mention we could technically be considered the first group of women she is ministering to WHICH IS DOPE IF YOU ASK ME. 

Alright folks, now I want to tell you why this name means absolutely so much to me. I think there is a stigma in the Christian community as a whole about coming as you are. People want to look around their church on Sunday morning and see smiling faces in nice clothes. This, in turn, makes people feel as if they can only go to God in their Sunday best with a smile plastered on their face. Which, as the absolutely not a pastor I am, I will say is absolutely wrong. God doesn’t want our Instagram or Facebook selves: the highlight reel of our lives that has been edited to the point that it isn’t even real anymore. He wants every raw and broken part of us. He wants the real us. He wants us to come to Him. Just. As. We. Are. You will never find a verse that says, “Come to me when you have fixed all your problems, put on a face of makeup, a dress and then I will take you in as my own”. But, let me tell you what you will find.

Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”

Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit”

2 Corinthians 1:3-8 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Psalm 9: 9-10 “The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you,for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

Matthew 5: 3-5 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

Psalm 34: 4 “I sought the Lord. and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears”

Now that you’ve read all of these verses let me tell you what I took away from them. The Lord is saying, “Come to me when you are weak. Come to me when you are burdened. Come to me when you are broken hearted. Come to me when you feel troubled. Come to me when you are anxious. Come to me when you are oppressed. Come to me when you are poor in spirit. Come to me when you are mourning. Come to me when you are fearful. Come to me through it all and with it all”.

His love never changes.      You're worthy of it all.

all the love,

sarah hicks