“There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind”
-C.S Lewis
Fernando, only fourteen years old and one of the six boys here at Beacon of Hope, the boy’s home we are at for the month. Two weeks ago he was put on a bus and sent to live here, right after his father passed away. My eyes welled up with tears. It’s still hard for me to look at his sweet smile and not want to cry. I tried comprehending how scary this must all be. I tried comprehending what it would be like to lose a parent and then be shipped away on a bus, leaving everything you know behind. It breaks my heart. How overwhelming this new change must be for him. But I know that he is in a much better place. And even though what he is going through has to be scary, he has been handed an amazing opportunity, one very few kids in Africa will ever get.
Beacon of Hope takes in the most at risk teenage boys, the ones who literally have nothing and no one to look after them. The boys receive a home, food, education, vocational training, and learn about Jesus. And they are so happy to be here. The boys are so helpful and willing to do anything that’s asked of them. They truly are the sweetest boys.
Sometimes, most times, moving forward into the great unknown can be terrifying. As humans we grow comfortable and cling to the familiar. We become afraid of moving forward, out of the chance that what lies ahead could be worse. Even when our current circumstances are anything less than favorable.
But sometimes, most times, God needs us to take that leap of faith. To jump into the next season that life has for us. Sometimes, most times, that’s the only way He can change us, the only way He can change our circumstances.
I’ve always been so afraid of change. So afraid of taking that jump. I’ve always been a toe dipper. Carefully testing the waters out. Slowly warming up to my new environment. And even with the World Race, God knew I needed to test it out first before saying yes to this crazy adventure, thus sending me first on the World Race Exposure trip. I’ve always admired my crazy squad mates who saw the one paragraph description about the Race and were sold right away. I’ve always admired people who could take the plunge, no questions asked. The Noah’s and Mary’s. Noah who spent around 100 years building an arc when there were no signs of rain. And Mary who took on parenting the savior of the world.
I’m sure both Mary and Noah were comfortable with their lives before God called them to take that jump. Mary was about to be married, Noah had a family. I’m sure it must have been tempting to say No…to stay where it was comfortable. I’m sure that what God was calling them to do seemed a lot harder and scarier than their current circumstances. And I’m pretty sure that had they said no, they probably would have went on to lead normal lives. God didn’t need them to take the jump. He could have used someone else. But how different their lives would have been. How they would have missed out on the extraordinary.
I don’t want ordinary anymore, I want extraordinary. And that is what my Father can give to me but I have to take those jumps. And the World Race was a huge start but it’s just the beginning. There are far better things that lie ahead.
God has been so patient with me and I know He always will be. But things are different now, I’m different now. Before when I was a toe dipper, when I was that girl afraid of change, it had less to do with my personality and more to do with my faith, or lack there of.
And now that I know more of who my God is; now that I have put my trust in Him… now that I have believed in His promises, I now know that good lies ahead. Now that I know that I have a Father who is guiding my footsteps. A Father who will instruct and teach me in the way I should go. A father who will counsel and watch over me. (Psalm 32:8). A Father who has plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11). Now that I know who that Father is…it’s time to jump. It’s time to stop hesitating when He says Go. It’s time to stop worrying about what I’m leaving behind.
I want to cannon ball into my future now.
I have loved the Race with all of my heart. It is by far the best thing I have ever done. And although there are times where I never want this journey to end, I know that in a life of following Jesus, far better things lie ahead. I first came on this Race because I wanted to change the world. But now more than ever I see so clearly that God took me on this adventure so that He could earn my trust. He called me on the Race, He led me out to rough waters so that I could learn to jump and then learn to take His hand. So that I could learn to be bold and become a woman who says yes without hesitation. I’ve always felt that God has a specific and big calling on my life, a calling that will require big things from me, a calling that will require a huge jump. But I couldn’t take that jump until I learned to trust Him.
I have learned so much while on this Race. I have been inspired by so many amazing beautiful people, people like Fernando. And even though I can’t comprehend how scary this jump has been for this sweet little boy, I know who Our God is and that He has good things ahead for His children.
And so I look at Fernando’s smiling face as he gets use to his new home, his new life…and I smile. I smile for all the good that lies ahead for this little boy and at all the good that lies ahead for me…for all of us who choose to jump into the great unknown.
