What is your purpose? When asked my purpose and reason for
joining the race I found it hard to properly articulate my desires and
motives. In fact, the first thing
that came to mind was, if I don’t go, then who will? The fallacy of my answer is found on the World Race website
where hundreds have gone before me, and if God wills it, hundreds will go
after. Okay, well umm…lets dig a
little deeper. Why am I going? Because several years ago sitting on a
stump in Wisconsin I made a promise to the Lord that I would serve Him until my
last breath. Then that little
voice inside my head reminded me that I have been doing that and can continue
to do that from the comfort of my home.
So if that is not my reason, then why am I committing 11 months of my
life to go around the world and love people who need the love of the Lord just
as much as my neighbors do?
I am going on the world race because I am not content. I am not content with my relationship
with the Lord, I want more. I am
not content with my lack of genuine love towards the unlovable, I want
more. I am not content with my
lack of knowledge and awareness of the hurts and pains of God’s children around
the world, I want more. I am not
content with seeking the American dream, I want more. I am not content with the fact that I have never truly given
of myself to the poor and needy, I want more. The Lord has given me the opportunity to strip away the
extra baggage, the extra stuff that I have come to love in this world and truly
follow Him to a land and a place I do not know. I want more, and the Lord has provided the means in which
for me to obtain more, by having less.
Is this going to be easy? No! I am scared out of my
mind. The Lord has blessed me with
a wonderful family whom I love more than words can say. I am not going to be there for my
sister’s 16th birthday or my nieces’ 1st and 11th
birthdays. If something happens to any of my family members while I am
gone I cannot simply jump in my car and be home in a flash. I am trying to raise $15,000 while
trying to finish paying for my last semester of school as well as all of the
miscellaneous costs of the preparation for the trip while working and taking a
full load of senior level classes.
Not to mention the fact that I have camped outside in a tent enough
times to count on my hand, and there was always a house with a fully stocked
refrigerator and clean bathroom within feet of the tent. The final cherry of it all is the
health risks and physical risks of being an American young outgoing girl who
likes to look people in the eye and tell them what is her heart. Dangerous? Check. But through it all,
through the struggles I have already faced, through the struggles I am
preparing to face, and through the struggles I do not even know I will be
facing, I want more.
I am going because I want more of my God and I want to be
used as a vessel for others to have more of my God, too. Crazy? I know.
If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we
are in our right mind, it is for you. — 2 Corinthians 5:13
