It was cold. Really cold. All of the power had been knocked out for miles because of a heavy snowstorm that had come through. Some people were stranded on top of one of the hills in my neighborhood because no one could get up and no one would dare try to drive down. One man had a generator in his truck that he was trying to take it up to a few people so they would have heat and was shoveling the whole hill – by hand. He didn’t have a plow or snow blower, only a plastic snow shovel. I wasn’t doing anything since all the power was out so I decided to bundle up and go help.
After almost 5 ½ hours of shoveling, we were able to make a path up the hill for him to take the generator to the top. As I was walking home, it was the most quiet I’ve ever heard. It was dark, the snow was reflecting the moonlight, which made everything seem a lot brighter for 2am, and the sky was filled with stars. It was an abnormal amount of stars that night because, normally, the city skyline and the streetlights make it impossible to stargaze. This night was different.
All the luxuries that I normally enjoy were gone. As I walked back home, I remember specifically asking God, “Is this something you really want me to do with my life? Give up everything to go serve and love people full-time no matter where it may be?” “Yes.” That’s the answer I received in the deepest part of my soul. I stopped walking. I knew I didn’t hear an audible voice, but it wasn’t my own internal voice either. I started asking other questions that I needed direct answers from God. Nothing. I knew that it was the Holy Spirit in me confirming that calling.
I’ve gone on mission’s trips with my church quite a few times to places like, Mexico, Peru, and Brazil. But I wanted to break away from the group short-term missions trip and experience real life on the missions field. I was supposed to spend a few months in Brazil with a missionary from our church in 2005. I didn’t. The day I was supposed to leave, the girl I was dating at the time had lost her grandfather unexpectedly from a heart attack.
That’s when my Jonah Race started.
I would love to say that the Jonah Race is similar to the Spartan Race, Tough Mudder or some other 5K race. My Jonah Race was me running, sometimes sprinting, from what God wanted me to do. I would find every reason and every rationalization as why that life wasn’t for me. That cold night in January 2010 was God calling me back to what I’ve been running from for so long.
In September of 2013, I began praying that God take me back to the desires he had placed in my heart back in 2005 when I would have given everything away to do what He wanted me to do when I was supposed to go to Brazil. I wanted Him to spark within me a burning desire for missions because, quite frankly, I had none. Slowly, as I began fasting and praying, God was calling me yet again and giving me the desires and passions I had ignored before. This time I decided to submit. I was done running. I was done coming up with contingency plans. I would do what he was calling me to do no matter what.
I remember my sister talking about maybe doing The World Race before she decided to become a missionary with YWAM. I began to research and pray. On February 01, 2014, I was praying and paused to write this in my journal – DON’T BE AFRAID TO ACT!
I applied for The World Race that weekend. After my two phone interviews, I was accepted. Since then, God has been confirming this decision both in my heart and in my circumstances. I’m excited to be a part of what God is doing in the hearts of his creation in calling them back to Himself! This is just the beginning of an amazing journey and I will follow him until He decides He’s done with me here.
