that I would be leaving in 7 months for an 11 month mission trip. I never thought I would ever want to become
a missionary…ever, but that all changed this past March when I went on a spring
break trip to Guatemala to work in an orphanage. After I came back I knew I wanted something
more and something to do with serving others and missions. That one week has probably changed me more
than any other event in my life. I came
back confused not sure what to do or how to make my dreams a reality. One night I stayed up all night wrestling and
praying about how to make my dream a reality.
Eventually I decided the most obvious solution would be to go to
med-school so I could do medical missions around the world and help those like
we saw in Guatemala, lining up outside the local clinics just to see a doctor. This past summer I figured out all the
classes I needed to take to get into med-school and I started to shadow a
pediatrician. After my first day of
shadowing I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not, I felt like I was forcing myself
to like it just so I could go with the ideal plan that I created in my
head. After shadowing all summer I was still unsure
and realized it was a lot of school and work to do something I wasn’t really
sure about and I had this restless feeling that God was calling me in a
different direction, but I still had no clue what it was.
When this semester started I was unsure about what was
next. I had four months until graduation
and needed to figure out what to do for the rest of my life. After lots of prayer and wresting with God
about figuring out what I should do with my life, one of my friends told me
about the World Race. It sounded
interesting and I forgot about it for a while then finally looked it up. After looking it up I immediately knew it was
for me. It had everything I wanted,
adventure, traveling, serving others, and incredible opportunities to grow in
my relationship with God. I
knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it would definitely be worth it.
I eventually applied, had my interview, and was
accepted. After my interview I started
getting second thoughts. I started to
think about all the things I would miss out on while being gone for a year, the
comforts of home, my friends and family, and the missed opportunities of
starting a career, making money, and buying an FJ Cruiser.
group leader I decided to go for it knowing that God was calling me on
something much greater now than starting a career and FJ Cruisers. I know God has an incredible plan for me while on the race and I
can’t wait to grow and serve Him even more while on the race.
