In my very first blog post I mentioned how one of my hesitations for going on The Race was financial. When I began this journey I was about to start my last semester of college and thought a nice night out meant going to half price apps at Applebees and maybe some ice cream after. Money was definitely tight and I saw no sure plan to reaching the full amount needed for the eleven months. But God.
I was told very early on that while I will learn a ton while I’m on my mission, God will also teach me a ton during my time of preparation. My goodness how true this was.
As I reflect back on this past year I realize how few times I became nervous about the daunting task of raising over $16,000. I know myself well enough that I know I should’ve had a nervous knot in my tummy from the very beginning to the very end. But thankfully from the very beginning and throughout I had prayers going to our Lord asking that He not only provide but give me peace to know that He would provide. And I strongly believe that it’s not only important to tell others to pray, but to tell others how God has answered prayers. Because He does. A lot.
A few summers ago a friend told me about a unique journal he keeps. This journal has three columns on each page. In one column he puts his prayer requests. In the second column he puts the date he started praying that prayer. And the third column is the date the Lord answered the prayer. I loved this idea so much that I started my own journal like it. On the front of my journal I wrote “Proof”. I love being able to show people the great amount of proof that God hears and answers us. We only need ask.
The day I got to write in the date in the third column across from the prayer request of financial provision for The World Race was a joyous day that I still celebrate. A lot of people have told me how proud they are of me or how impressed they are by my success in raising those funds. But I love being able to tell those people how little I actually did to get to that end goal. Truly. I asked God to send supporters and encouragers and He did.
Please don’t hear that last paragraph as me saying I don’t think I’ll have to work hard or put in effort in my ministry. I don’t believe that this year will be easy or that minimum effort will suffice. What I’m trying to say that what God taught me during this time of preparation is that during the times when I will be tempted to become stressed and try to take the full burden of the job on my own shoulders, I must remember that there is always a much simpler way. Pray and ask the Father.
Ministry can be hard and seem impossible. Thank God He has already done the hard part and sent His son to do the impossible.
