As a little girl I was asked a lot what I wanted to be when I grew up. I would respond a police woman or a doctor. If you would have suggested a missionary I would have laughed and said “what is that?” Since accepting Christ into my life just three years ago and now being five months into the Race, I understand how amazing of a job being a missionary is! I adore what I have been doing these past five months, but I most especially enjoyed month three in Ireland .See, before traveling to Ireland I felt called to help support missionaries when I returned to America. That was my plan though not God’s plan and since building relationships with the people and staff at Causeway Coast Vineyard I now feel called to spending a year in their internship program. The church also has a wonderful mission school called “Encounter” where they teach you how to be a missionary in everyday life. Who would have thought the country that I was least excited for ended up being the country that I fell in love with so far on the Race. I marvel over God’s great plans for our lives. As Christians he calls us into a life that is much greater than we could have ever planed for ourselves. Kerry Abernathy, the husband to Jenny Abernathy who both are our squad mentors , spoke to us in Ukraine about giving the pen of your life to God and letting him write your story. Kerry spoke this over us right before Ireland and it was in God’s perfect timing that I heard this. See, I was playing the safe card and not fully allowing God to take the pen to write my story. Before I left I told myself that I am not supposed to be a missionary and this year was only about me growing in my relationship with the Lord. I told myself that because I am a newer Christian I couldn’t possibly hold any real talent that could be used to further God’s kingdom. Well, any talent besides my nursing degree, and I knew that I could be a nurse back in American with good benefits and a clean hospital. See once I allowed God to take the pen he did! He went straight to work writing the story that He had planned for me and let me tell you that it is larger than I ever could have imagined. One of my favorite sayings is “If your dreams don’t scare you they aren’t big enough,” well I am now changing that to “If God’s plan doesn’t scare you, you might need to pray again.”
Now don’t let me lead you astray, I still struggle with giving the pen over to God. I innately want to do things my way and tend to forget how faithful God is to me. In return God does allows me to take the pen away. Does He punish me for it? No way, but I am missing out on the better things that he has in store for me. Maybe you do this in your life too. I challenge you to come along side me and fight the daily battles of giving the pen over to God. You have seen one example of how God wrote something beautiful in my life when I handed over the pen. Let’s see what He will do in your life too!
