So there is a crazy story I have to share…
I signed up for the World Race a few weeks ago. I am VERY behind on everything and have contemplated not even going at all. But when I have those doubts I just think about how incredible this journey will be and how disappointed I will be if I am not a part of it. For awhile I felt isolated and totally on my own. That is extremely scary when you need to raise $15,500! In fact, just yesterday I had a little panic attack when I started to think about leaving my awesome job, moving out of my super cute apartment, putting grad school on hold, and leaving my dog, Ruby for a year. It was overwhelming. But I've had a change of heart. I started reading my fellow racers blog posts and realized that I am not alone, not at all. We are all going through this together. We all feel called to go on this trip. We all feel God stirring in our hearts. And as scary as this trip may be, we know that God will provide and that God has a plan. I always like to think about that quote: "We plan, God laughs." That's how I feel right now. For some time, I felt like I (sort of) had my life figured out. Then I heard about the World Race and my life took off in another direction at 200 MPH. All my friends ask me why The World Race? Why not another two week mission trip? For while, my answer was that I just feel called to go. But I know now that God wants me to experience a life of sacrifice. A life of selflessness. I feel that God wants me to see Him at work in different cultures and under unique circumstances. I feel that God wants to use me and teach me. That my passion for travel and adventure goes far beyond "vacationing". I want to learn about being humble. I want see things I've never seen both spiritually and physically. I want God to use my strengths to meet the needs of those who need it the most.
Now here's that crazy story I mentioned previously. I've always known that in times of doubt that prayer is key. When I was feeling isolated and full of doubt the other day, I decided to message a fellow racer on Facebook because I noticed we had mutual Facebook friends. She was actually friends with my college roommate, Leslie. When I told her that, she said, "Weird. I lived with Leslie's best friend, Lydia." I said that I too lived with Lydia my Junior year of college – just a year prior. To make things weirder, we realized that we had lived in the same exact house in Oxford, and even in the same room. We had never met until the World Race. Isn't that crazy? I'm not sure what God is telling me but he's saying something.
It's the Fourth of July and although I'm proud of our country, I am ready to depart. Please pray for me as I begin my fundraising. I missed the first deadline, but hopefully can catch up quickly.
