Ever since I have been little, in every story that was read to me, every teacher, every coach, every book I have read, has told me to dream big. Though I highly doubt when they said that they meant, “GO. Leave everything comfortable–like your bed, your daily shower, your friends, family, your church, even your guaranteed safety…and go take the gospel to Malawi or Laos.”
It’s funny, usually the way things go is that when we are kids all sorts of things are possible. We walked around with imaginations in our heads and dreams in our hearts. And somehow, somewhere along the way those things dissipate. As we grow up we are disappointed by people, we are lied to, we are fooled, duped, and we see enough of the bad things in the world to become cynics. As I follow Christ more radically, I am finding the opposite to be true. Let me tell you something.
Ever since I have taken up my cross and decided to radically follow Christ…I haven’t been able to dream small. I could not have imagined going on the World Race a few years ago, my dreams were pretty realistic. Solid. Dependable. But that’s not what faith is. Because lets face it. Raising $16,000 in less than a year on donations…impossible…reaching some of the worlds hardest and most burdened hearts…impossible…leaving comfort behind after a life of privilege and plenty and still being fulfilled…impossible.
Still, since I tasted my first bite of going to the nations–I have seen people healed both in heart and body, I have seen children playing despite the mass graves a few miles down the road, I have seem men and women devastated by grief poverty and death turn to Christ in worship. And I can’t ever go back to dreaming small. And so with my graduation from college coming up in 5 weeks, 35 days, every well intended person I will talk to in the next few weeks is going to ask me, “so what are your plans after graduation?”
And when I respond with, “I am going on the World Race” and tell them about my trip…they are going to to ask questions like they already have started to. About my safety, about the money, about what I’m leaving…and then they will probably think “why?”. And I’m gonna think, “why not.” Dreaming small just isn’t an option anymore, and my heart isn’t just here anymore. So I go.
