Most mornings my teammate Christina and I go for long runs in the beautiful locations we are doing ministry in. For me, it is such a great time to connect with her and with God. I enjoy the morning breeze, the scenery, watching the sunrise, and the company. As we ran the red dirt roads of Kampon Speu, Cambodia I spilled my heart to her, telling her of my future dreams and hopes and everything in between. I told her it was amazing to meet the people I had met so far, who inspired me to dream crazy big while on the race. There are many people who live on nearly nothing, missionaries who live on monthly support, and families who give up everything and travel the world to help others. I just kept wondering, “How do they all do it? How do they just trust God to provide?”
After talking about the many things I hoped to do in my life, I concluded by saying “However, not many of these dreams will be possible because of the incredible debt I have incurred from student loans.” After the words came out of my mouth, they just kept resonating in my head and I began to wonder, “How did I let this happen? I thought I did everything right by going to school, getting my Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, and studying abroad?” Now I am burdened with incredibly high student loan payments and the obligation to have a high paying job in order to pay rent, bills, loans, food, and gas every month.
Instead of having more options with a higher degree, I am chained to the requirement of a high salary in order to make the monthly payments. Instead of dreaming of the coffee shop I would love to open, or thinking of future mission work I could engage in, I am stuck wondering where all of the money I owe the bank will come from.
After the conversation ended….Christina simply stated…”Why don’t you just pray about it? I mean seriously Steph, crazier things have happened!” To that I replied with laughter!
However, the more I let it roll around in my mind, the less crazy it sounded. So I am going to pray about it. I am going to pray for $150,000. I am going to pray for someone to take this financial burden out of my life. I am going to pray to God who helped me get on this trip! I am going to pray for freedom. I am going to pray for a miracle. When people ask me what I am going to do after the race I want to be able to say I am going to go back to the job I love and not have any worries about my financies. I don’t want to have to worry about my monthly finances on the race or when I get home. I am going to pray that I can have these financial chains broken from my life.
Please join me in this prayer…for if I have learned anything since being on the race it’s that anything is possible and crazier things have happened….
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? -Matthew 6:25-28
