This is the most asked question I get when I tell people I'm going on The World Race. Actually the most asked question is, "No way, the TV show?" After I disappoint them and tell them that I will not be famous nor rich after this adventure, the unanswered question passes over their face: "Why The World Race? Why would you go all around the world, visiting a country each month, instead of choosing one spot and really investing in people for one year?"
Because I'm indecisive?
While that's true, it's not really the reason. To understand why I'm going on The World Race, you would have to understand what's been going on with me and God for the past few months (and years):
Prayer. Prayer. Prayer.
Answer.
When I was sixteen, I told God that once I graduated high school, I would go anywhere He wanted me to go and do whatever He asked of me. I was ready to hop on a plane and serve the outcasts in a far away country to live out the rest of my days. Serving people is truly my heart's desire.
Then, He called me to the exotic country of the United States of America.
That's not exactly what I was thinking.
A few months later, there was a last minute opportunity to be a counselor at my church's middle school summer camp, so I went.
And I loved it.
That's when I realized that God was needing me to stay here in the United States to work with middle schoolers.
Really God? When I said I would go anywhere and I would do anything, that's not really what I had in mind.
But God gave me a passion for teenagers and I've truly loved every minute and every opportunity that I've been given.
But still, I kinda wanted to be a missionary.
This summer, for the first time in years, I asked God if I could go out and serve people around the world.
He said yes.
Simple as that. I asked my Father for something and He agreed. Looking back, I definitely wasn't ready as a teenager. He had other things to show me and people who had to help me grow and become vulnerable with.
So now I go. Well, after I graduate. 

I first found out about The World Race when I was visiting my friend Tempest. I was waiting for her outside her dorm room and happened to look across the hall at a postcard on her neighbor's door, asking for people to pray for her sister as she embarked on The World Race. It caught my attention because I thought she was on The Amazing Race and that show had been a dream of mine since I was little. I read the card, telling of the countries she would be visiting and I remembered the website to visit later. I checked it out once then forgot about it for a whole year. This past summer, I happened to come across it again and something just clicked. I knew I wanted to go, but I didn't want to push aside the plan God already called me to do. That's when I asked Him.
It's funny though. As soon as I come back from my crazy adventures, I'll be headed right back to where I planned: teaching middle school in America.
God gave me a plan and I intend to follow it. But He also knew my desires and what I wanted and took that into consideration.
I asked and received.
That's how the Father's love works. Sometimes not how we expect, but all in His time.
