Four months ago, in August, I was staring at a finished Louisiana State University application, trying to work up the courage to hit the submit button. It was the last of my six applications and I could finally breathe. I had spent the summer deciding on schools and debating a GAP year. I had looked into the World Race and other programs for weeks and weeks, but at this point the idea of abandoning college for a year and joining the World Race was totally erased from my mind.
The idea of leaving my friends and family for nine months just didn’t seem appealing. Leaving the comforts that I knew so well just didn’t sit well with me. I struggled with the idea of missing out on freshman year of college with my friends and I didn’t want to be behind.
Fast forward two months to the end of October and I was once again staring at my computer screen. This time I was staring at youtube, watching videos of people sharing World Race GAP year stories. I was reaching that point where you can’t even see the screen because you’ve been staring for so long. I was hooked. I couldn’t figure out what I had missed back in the summer. Why had I passed up this amazing opportunity?
The fact of the matter was, I hadn’t passed it up! The Lord had planned this day, and I knew it. I applied right away and announced my plan to my family. The World Race was for me and there was no doubting it. My mom’s response was to ask if she could come with me, and she joined me in watching recap videos and looking at past racer’s blogs.
Now, I sit here astonished at the amazing work that the Lord has done for me just in the past few months. Today I was reassured that this was meant to be, as I read a devotional about leaving all worries behind and putting it all on the Lord. Not only was today made wonderful by a lovely devotional, but also my teammates that have been accepted so far. They are so amazing and I just know that we are going to be the best “family” the WR has seen yet. We are already talking nonstop and I love every minute of it. I cannot wait to see what the Lord has for me on this missions trip of a lifetime and I am so excited!!!
