It seems like just a few days ago that I received my acceptance call for the World Race and made my initial $150 deposit (thanks Mom). I remember how excited I was knowing that in less than a year I would be leaving for Asia to join in on God’s global mission. I began to think of all of the amazing things that I would see and do. I would think about how God would use me to love people and be a catalyst for the Gospel… the change that would happen in and around me from God working through me.
With that excitement came a timidity. I began to think about all of the things that I would be leaving behind for a year. I mean I have GREAT relationships here in Hattiesburg and back home in Magee that I’m not ready to leave. Friends that are like brothers and sisters. Great bosses and coworkers. Mentors that have always been a phone call away. My parents. I’m not ready to not see my parents for a year.
I have things that I want to do NOW! I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to be restricted from dating for a year. I want to find a great job and start my career. I want to start Seminary already so I can serve God through counseling. I want to have a steady income where I can continue to save money for the future. I want to serve God through my plans in my time!
It started to seem like this trip that God had called me to do was interrupting what I had called God to do for me. My focus for this trip began to turn into a distraction for what I wanted to happen after I got back. I wanted the experience and blessings of serving God through a year long mission trip without actually doing it. I was fighting for my comfortability.
Today, I can be honest with you and tell you that there are parts of me that are still timid. Parts of me that want to stay. There’s a larger part of me though, that is telling me to go; telling me that stepping into the unknown following God is greater than stepping into the known dragging God behind me.
Today, I am trusting God’s plan for me more than my plan for God.
The truth is that I have no idea what this next year holds but I know that the Gospel is worth facing those challenges. Christ’s work on the cross compels me to step out of my own comfortability to extend the family of God across the Globe.
Through this season I’m asking you to be prayerful for my teammates and I as we continue to prepare for the race. Pray that our fundraising deadlines would be met! Pray for excitement and contentment.
Today, I am 29% funded and God is proving faithful even when I haven’t been! Your financial or prayerful partnership would be a huge blessing to me! If you’re interested in giving or committing this to prayer you can contact me at 601-382-5884 or email me on my blog page!
“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible.” – Paul (1 Corinthians 9:19)
