When I first started telling people about my decision to pursue the World Race, many people were confused. I got responses like, “But, that wasn’t in your plan…” and “Are you seriously going to throw away your first year as a possible teacher?”. Even now that I am a few months into preparing for the World Race I still have friends reminding me that it isn’t too late to apply to jobs and that I might not even raise enough money to leave in August.
I could pretend like these comments don’t throw me off or make me question this decision, but that wouldn’t be truthful to my actual feelings. It’s hard to hold on to this decision when there are days when I even wake up and question what I’m doing.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to listen to a sermon by Priscilla Shirer, which was exactly the message I needed to hear after a week full of doubts. During her sermon, Shirer talks about putting aside things in our lives that we might love and want to hold on to in order to receive something even better that God has planned. At one point, she pulls out two pieces of Velcro that are stuck together and explains that sometimes we have plans for ourselves, but then we hear a call from God to let go of those plans. On stage she shows the struggle of pulling apart those pieces of Velcro and says that it’s so difficult to actually let go of what we have planned, and there is an amount of trust that goes into saying “Okay God, I know that you have something else that’s even better than what I could plan”.
No.I never imagined that I would be doing anything else after graduation besides teaching, but I strongly feel that this is where God is leading me next. I would love to hold on to the plans I made for myself that involve finally getting a classroom, but I’m willing to put that aside and follow where I’m being led. Even if I don’t have the money by August, I am willing to wait for a route when I’m fully funded, because I know that God isn’t going to lead me out in this state of unknown without providing for me. It’s scary and difficult being at a place of insecurity, but I am learning more about trust and faith during this process than ever before in my life.
