“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.”
~Mark 11:24
Nine months ago, when I was wrestling with the decision of whether or not to forgo ‘typical’ post-grad plans and apply for The World Race, I posted the following status on Facebook:
” ‘But Cassady, it might hurt.’ So what? I have Jesus.
‘But Cassady, it might be hard.’ So what? I have Jesus.
‘But Cassady, you might fail.’ So what? I have Jesus.
So completely blown away today by the freedom that abounds when I rest in my Savior’s love.”
(9/18/2013)
It’s nine months later and I find myself wrestling with similar feelings of fear and uncertainty as I try to begin the process of fundraising the frightening total of $16,254 that I will need in order to make my decision to go on this adventure a reality…and suddenly it hits me that those words are just as true now, in this situation, as they were then.
The truth about fundraising is this:
It HURTS to admit that I can’t do this on my own, and to face the possibility of being ‘rejected’ by the people whose support I need in a more tangible and practical way than ever before. There’s nothing like being forced into total dependence on the Lord and the generosity of His people to make you realize just how easily your pride can be bruised.
It is HARD. Really hard. It’s hard to set aside my fiercely independent nature and ask people for money. It’s also hard to set aside sufficient time and energy for this process during this weird transitional time in my life while balancing several jobs to make ends meet and figuring out this whole adult thing as a recent college graduate.
I might FAIL. Wait, what? Yep, there’s a possibility that I won’t get all of the money raised, or it won’t come in on time, or no one will want to support me, or my blog posts will go unread and September may come and go and I might not have the money in my World Race account to step on that plane and into this 11-month journey that I so desperately want to embark on. I might fail.
But through a lot of prayer and conversations with some incredibly encouraging friends over the past few weeks, I have come to realize that for every painful reality of fundraising, there is the following response:
So what? I have Jesus.
And that is the ultimate truth of fundraising, of my World Race journey, and of my entire existence – that even when it hurts, even when it’s hard, and even in my many failures, I still have Jesus. And ultimately, He is enough.
I tell you all this for a variety of reasons – I firmly believe that the Lord calls us to be vulnerable in our struggles, rather than trying to maintain a facade of perfection. Also, I want to give you all a glimpse of where my heart is at as I begin taking hold of the Lord’s unfailing promise to provide for every one of my needs in order to live out His will for my life, because I can’t do this without your help. The reality is that I am just two weeks away from my first deadline of raising $3,500 dollars by June 28th, and I am being challenged by the Lord to charge full speed ahead into fundraising and believe Him for BIG things over these next two weeks.
I am convinced that God is calling me to The World Race, and I am confident that He never calls His children to a place where He won’t provide. Did you catch that? God never calls to where He won’t provide. So, please join me on this journey of faith by subscribing to my blog and keeping an eye out for a post about the various ways you can support me. For those of you that I know personally, be expecting a call, email, or letter from me soon to schedule a time when I can tell you more about The World Race and how you can partner with me – or if you’re feeling particularly ambitious then head on over to the Contact Me page and we can figure out a time to meet up right away! Thank you all for the support that you’ve shown me thus far, and I am already praising God for the ways that He is going to use each and every one of you to provide for this exciting time in my life.
Much love,
Cassady
