I’m sorry you haven’t really heard from me recently.
This has been an interesting season. I’ve been living in Gainesville, GA now for six months. When I moved here I was armed with a plan and within the first week God asked me to release the plan and trust Him… I’m not going to lie it’s been hard, so hard for me.
I kept trying to plan out my future, I wanted so desperately to pursue urban ministry and even almost made it happen out of my own desire. In December I turned down the opportunity to be a part of the CGA in Atlanta and chose instead to remain in Gainesville. It just didn’t feel right to go (trust me I was surprised at myself).
I had finally come to a place where I had given up trying to force it. I stopped trying to force my future.
I knew that I still had 8 more months in the CGA and hopefully by the end of it, I would have an idea of what was next. I can tell you that three months later I’m still without a sure plan, and it’s pretty amazing.
It’s so beautiful to see how the Lord moves – you just have to give Him the space to do so. When I stopped trying to direct my own steps and let Him do it, I found myself with a world of opportunities before me.
I learned last year that so often we put God in a box of what we think He’s capable of and so we miss out. However, we also put ourselves in boxes, restricting ourselves to only certain “types” of ministry.
I was on the verge of closing myself off to everything except inner city ministry, because that’s where “I” thought I should be.
And now? Well, now there is so much freedom to just stop and sit and listen to where the Lord is leading. Gone is the pressure on me to figure out the next steps I think I should take.
“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps”
Proverbs 16:9
So where has He lead me?
Well…. In April I will be heading to Ireland for 10 days!!
I’m so blessed to be able to support and help lead a Parent Vision Trip in Dublin next month. What is a Parent Vision Trip, you ask? It’s an opportunity for parents to visit their World Racers, who are in their 8th or 9th month of ministry, and spend a week doing ministry with them. Remember that time my parents visited me in Kenya? (And our picture ended up on an envelope).
I can tell you that week we spent together really impacted our relationship and both of my parents’ lives.
It was such a blessing to share my experiences with them and to do ministry side by side. I am so grateful that I will be able to support the parents and racers of this trip as they share this same experience and maybe do ministry side by side for the first time ever.
However in order to purchase my plane ticket and cover my expenses I need to raise about $700 as soon as possible.
I know that this is where the Lord has led me. Participating on this trip wasn’t even on my radar 2 weeks ago, and now it’s 4 weeks away. This is where I step out in faith again, trusting that the Lord is going to provide and use some of you to do so.
If you’d like to donate you can do so by clicking on the “Support Me!” link on the left hand side of the page.
Thank you all so much for your prayers, your support, and for following along on this crazy journey. I just want to leave you all with one final thought. It was on a card that fell out of a book I grabbed tonight.
“We must be willing to give up the life we’ve planned, so we can live the life that’s waiting for us. “
– Jess
