almost two years i hopped in a car with a backpack full of essentials. i traipsed down to gainesville, georgia with people i did not know, but whom i shared a common thread. i spent ten days at the aim office where i got a glimpse of what my life would look like for eleven months. sixty days later i hopped on a plane with the same backpack of essentials and i headed off with forty-two scared, hopeful, excited, abandoned crazy people. we were off to change the world. and change the world we did.
i held orphans and hugged widows. i prayed for sick people and rejoiced for those i saw healed. i mourned at funerals and danced at weddings. i looked at the ugly parts of myself and came alive to the beauty that had been hidden for so many years. i stepped foot in sixteen different countries. i saw the pyramids, the holy lands, and angkor wat. i also saw huts and temples and school being held under trees. i got sick. i was healed. in so many ways, i was healed. i missed home and i found new homes. i made friends who became family. i sweat. so much. i preached. i shared parts of my story i didn’t think i’d ever reveal. to anyone. especially not crowds of people from a park bench in africa. i cried. a lot. i laughed. a lot. i led people to jesus and i prayed like crazy for those who just weren’t ready. i worshiped and i repented.
and it was hard and it was beautiful. but i went.
i went to the hard places. the beautiful places. the dirty and broken places. i went to the mountains and the valleys. the cities and the bush. i went.
i know what you’re thinking. i do. i read the blogs, i did my research. and i gave myself and the lord every.single.excuse of why i couldn’t go. why i shouldn’t go. just like you. but at some point i gave up the fight and i gave in to what the lord was calling me to be a part of. i gave into the commandment he’s given. “to go into all the world…”
so. now it’s your turn. it’s your turn to make the hard decision. the hard, non-sensical, un-popular decision. it’s time to for the rubber to meet the road. it’s time for the excuses to stop and it’s time to find out what exactly you are made of. are you ready?
