There are a few things I know about me: I have an uncanny gift for learning languages, I have crippling compassion for hurting people, and I have an inordinate passion for sharing my faith with others because Christ is the only thing that can heal people.
Growing up I always contemplated what I wanted to be when I grew up. The President of the United States of America, a Doctor, a Vet, a profession basketball player, an Olympic gymnast, a lawyer, and even an auditor (yes, I did consider this career). But nothing ever stuck. In 8th grade they made all the students take an explore test that would tell them good career paths. The only two I got (in order) were Secretary and Nun. Because of an unfortunate incident with Dr. Kober (my junior high school principle) Secretary was out. Because I’m not Catholic and celibacy sounds like a downer, Nun was out too.
I could never tell anyone what I wanted to be when I grew up. Well, except for mom. I always wanted to be a stay at home mom, but that didn’t seem like an ambitious enough answer for me to share (how wrong my young mind was). Though I couldn’t tell you what I wanted to be, I could tell you what I would be good at because of the things I know about myself. The answer to that question was missionary. Unfortunately, most foreign missionaries aren’t carpooling to baseball practice, driving their daughters to dance practice at the Y, volunteering with the PTA, and hosting sleepovers that produce playground buzz.
Though many have kids, raising my future kids in another country was not on my to do list. Unfortunately and Marvelously, I am in fact called into foreign missions. God has changed my heart about this issue and I am excited to use my gifts to reach the lost.
When I realized that I was, indeed, called into foreign missions I decided that I wasn’t going to sit around and wait. I decided to begin preparing myself now for the calling I was going to live out in the future. I started by beginning an Explore study with my mentor Julie Shepherd, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that God was calling me to go “now”.
The only problem with “Now” was that it was last July (2012) and God works off a different clock than people do. I was restless because I wasn’t getting any specifics in my prayers. No where, no when, no with whom, and no how.
About a month later my mother mentioned The World Race. I thought it sounded cool and left it at that. Little did I know that this was where I was being lead. I continued to pray about what my next step was and sometime in October I got my answer, “Go on the World Race”!!!
My reaction was – ARE YOU KIDDING ME GOD!! I am a junior in college! I have 2 seasons left of lacrosse! It’s soooo LONG! How do you shave on the World Race if there are no showers! How am I going to afford this trip! . . . It took me sometime, but I realized that this was where God was calling me.
So I took my first leap of faith and applied. God is sending me on this journey to prepare me for my future career in missions, to change me, and to grow me. This trip is inconvenient, I still don’t know how shaving is going to go, lacrosse is out of the question (commuting across the globe won’t work), school has been put on hold, and if God has called me to this he will provide me the way. And through this all,
God is already teaching me faith.
