I remember talking to a friend a few months ago about the day she was accepted into the World Race, and she was saying how that particular day was a day where everything just went wrong. You know the kind of day where it just seems like the world is completely against you? And I remember her telling me that a friend had to remind her that she had just signed up to further God’s kingdom for almost an entire year of her life, exactly what Satan doesn’t want. Obviously this was Satan attacking her in every way he knew how to try and ruin a day that should be celebrated.
So, the point of this little anecdote is to say that I think I have been encountering exactly what she felt that day over the past few months of my acceptance, and I think what I have been experiencing is this mixture of doubt and fear and I just can’t not be overwhelmed it seems. I handle stress I would say an average human amount (basically I just fall right in the middle somewhere on an imaginary stress scale), but what’s been happening this summer is a build up, a long strand of average stressful weeks that seem to never go away and a constant mile long “To-Do List” of things that I can’t bring myself to get done. I’ve been a sitting duck…. cue spiritual warfare. I think all the doubt and fear paralyzed me. It was taking that first step, that first blind faith moment and saying “God, I have no idea how this journey is going to end up, but I whole-heartedly trust you” and for months I couldn’t do it.
start TANGENT* (promise there is a point to this)
Community is probably one of the most strengthening and promising things I hold dear to my heart, and in these past few months my community has changed in a lot of ways. Two weeks ago I finished my final college class at UT (GO VOLS) and moved back to Nashville, TN. In my time of transition, a large part of my community was in their own individual transitions, and along the way everyone’s’ lives just got piled up with “stuff.” I felt like pieces of my soul left as each of my friends went to do great things in other cities, and it broke my heart.
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BUT God is ever faithful. In the peak of transition and doubt I had someone remind me that there are no meaningless interactions. Those could not be truer words and whether he knew it or not, it was exactly what I needed to hear to get me through. And when a huge chapter in my life just closed behind me, I know that the one ahead will be another string of thousands of meaningful interactions better than I could ever imagine.
I immediately walked into the valley after accepting the World Race and have been on an uphill climb ever since then, but this week God has revealed himself in ways that continue to take my breath away. Prayer is a powerful thing people, and whether it takes minutes or years for an answer to come, it is ALWAYS worth the wait. I am ever so blessed that I could take my first step this week. I took my blind faith first step and you know what’s crazy? It wasn’t scary at all. It was freeing, and for the first time in months I can see the top of the mountain. GOD IS GOOD & GOD IS FAITHFUL. I couldn’t have gotten through this summer without Him.
So, welcome to my blog and welcome to my World Race journey!
I believe in honesty and being genuine in everything you do in life, and I promise this blog will be exactly that. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR TAKING THIS JOURNEY WITH ME & SUPPORTING ME IN EVERY WAY!! It’s exciting to know this is only the beginning….
hayley
