Please everyone; take the time to read this. This is a hard post for me to write, so bear with me.
Please don’t just read this, let it soak in and think about it. Try and understand.
I have been living the past couple of years just at a standstill in life. Just working and taking classes here and there. Lacking passion or any sort of direction in my life as to where I am supposed to go from here. I have been praying and asking God for an answer, and I have finally gotten it. I have never been so sure of something in my life before. So I am overjoyed about this next step in my life. And as I’ve been sharing this opportunity I have noticed a few responses to it. Well, I have a few things to say regarding those.
I have heard things like:
“That’s so cool. You’ll get to travel the world.”
It’s really not about the traveling. It’s about the serving.
“Wow you sure are sacrificing a lot.”
I don’t like this word. I am not sacrificing; I am surrendering to God’s will for my life. I am not giving up anything I need. The Lord provides all and will provide all. What am I “sacrificing”? My comfort zone? When I chose to follow Christ and accept His plan for my life, I threw out my right to living comfortably. As a Christian I’m not called to be comfortable.
“You’re crazy.”
Yeah… maybe I am. So what?
“That is so unsafe.”
I have the God of the universe, who commands the wind and the seas, who calms the waves with a simple word, on my side. Whom shall I fear?
I have also heard so many responses to my asking people to partner with me and support me in this journey especially financially. And I have heard many rejections. And when I asked if you had prayed about this decision, many of you told me that no, you hadn’t really, you just knew it wasn’t something you were interested in supporting. You told me you couldn’t support me because…
-“That is an unwise decision, to go and do this for a year and not be focusing on making money and on supporting yourself independently and that is not something I can support”
This is NOT a decision I made lightly. I didn’t just on a whim say “Okay, saddle up, let’s get on a plane and go!” No. Despite whatever you believe I have put extreme amount of prayer and thought into this decision. I was actually initially applying to leave in January of 2014 and pushed it back to July. This was not a whim decision.
– “I don’t have the money.”
Honestly, anything helps. God will use any and all that you can give. He will take the $5 you can donate and multiply it. He has a way of doing that you know… remember that basket of bread and fish?
-“You can’t go and leave me for a whole year! I don’t want you to go!”
I am not doing it to leave anyone. Please understand that. This is a calling God has placed in my life and it’s time that I answer it.
-“If it’s God’s will for your life, as you say it is, you’ll get the money.”
Yes that is true. God is providing that money through your support. I cannot do this without support from all of you. Support in first and foremost prayer. I need your prayers. My team needs your prayers. The people of the countries we will be serving in need your prayers. And yes, I need your support financially. Without your support in this area, I will not have the funds to go and serve and answer God’s call.
So please. Friends and family. Know that this is not a decision I made lightly. Majority of you should know that I have had a tug on my heart for missions and for loving on the world for a long time now and that that tug has just gotten stronger and stronger over time.
Had you been in my bedroom when I first had the conversation with God about the Word Race you would have seen the tears you would of felt the fear and uncertainty. You would have heard me question if this was a smart decision, how I would raise the funds, how it all would work out.
And you also would of heard God scream at me:
“Ashley, STOP. QUIET. Be still. Trust in me. You have felt this tug, now is the time. It is time to go and to allow me to lead your life. I have a plan for you. It is going to be wild. It is going to be so great. It is going to be FULL of me. I know you are anxious, but trust in me. You’re never fully ready, but now is the time. I will teach you to trust in me. I will teach you what it means to be a humble spirit. I will teach you what it means to be rooted in me. It’s time. Go.”
You would have felt the peace that came over me and you would have felt the overwhelming emotions running through my body after I submitted my application.
So, try to take yourself out of all of this and understand that my heart is in this. I am in this. And I need you.
My teammate Kendra managed to capture my heart beautifully in her blog when she wrote,
“You want to know what’s so amazing about the World Race?
It’s not the traveling.
It’s not the countries.
It’s not the people.
It’s not the adventure.
It’s not the relationships.
It’s not the off days.
It’s not the sightseeing.
It’s not the buildup.
It’s not the dreams being met.
It’s not the break from America.
It’s not the different landscapes that my eyes will be in awe over.
It’s not the growing.
It’s not the sacrifice.
It’s not the answers.
It’s not the questions.
It’s not the stamps on my passport.
It’s not the long days.
It’s not the short days.
It’s not the laughs.
It’s not the tears.
It’s not any of that.
What’s so amazing about the World Race is that the Lord called me to it.”
That’s it. Plain and simple. The Lord has called me to this and I am going.
So can you please do me a favor?
If you aren’t already, please pray about supporting me. Pray that you would be open to letting the Lord call you to embark on this journey with myself and my teammates. Please allow yourself to be open to the Lord using this to change your life as well as my own. Take whatever ideas/thoughts you have about all of this and chuck them out the window and allow God to tell you about it. If you still don’t feel led to support me in prayer or financially, that’s okay, but let that calling be from God.
Thank you.
