As I begin to think about what I have to look forward to next year when I begin this crazy adventure with people I don’t even know yet, but in the end will be like my second family, it’s hard not to think about what I’m leaving behind. Being a senior in high school is hard enough with all the lasts I have to experience this year, but now add on the traditions that I have with my family that I’m now beginning to realize I can’t participate in next year. I have to say, it makes me wonder if I’m doing the right thing sometimes!
This coming year will be a year without Grandma’s stuffing, my arms burning from ricing 15 potatoes (I complain, but secretly love it for some odd reason), baking Christmas cookies with my sisters where we fight over whether or not there are too many red hots on the cookies (you can never have too many red hots, but they seem to disagree with me), the Christmas Eve candlelight service at midnight where we all gather in a circle around the sanctuary in the dark with only the candles in our hands to light the room while singing Silent Night, eating too many Jello eggs at Easter, and so much more. This list could go on and on with so many things that I am going to miss in this upcoming year because of the memories that I have from each item on this list. And the thought of having to miss out on a year full of memories with my friends and family really has the ability to make me question my decisions because they mean the world to me!
I think about all that I am going to miss, but then I begin to remember everything that I am going to be able to do. I am going to get to see and do so many things that I never dreamed I would ever be able to do. Because of this adventure that God has placed in my life, instead of participating in these traditions, like I have for the past 17 years, and bringing joy to myself, I have been given the opportunity to travel the world spreading that same joy to so many other people instead. And when I remember that, my doubts seem to fade because I know that God has prepared me for this trip and this is where he is leading me. And I will faithfully follow the path he is continuously laying out for me.
I have my whole life ahead of me, traditions will last for years to come, but I may only have one opportunity to go on this trip to spread God’s word to the corners of the world! The song “Follow You” by Leeland explains exactly what I want to accomplish while away this coming year:
“I’ll follow you into the homes of the broken, I’ll follow you into the world. I’ll meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God. I’ll follow you into the world.
Use my hands, use my feet, to make your kingdom come. To the corners of the earth until your work is done. ‘Cause faith without works is dead, and on the cross, Your blood was shed, so how could we not give it away so freely?”
This next year will be filled with joys and with pain, but through it all, I hope to follow my amazing God into this broken world to bring joy and hope to his people. I want to follow him into the corners of the world and share his love because if he is able to sacrifice his body and his life on a rugged cross so that I can live, why should I choose not to sacrifice nine months of my time, nine months without my list of traditions, so that many more can have the same chance at life?
