You may or may not have noticed that I’ve been awfully silent this past month. So much has happened, I haven’t really had time to sit down, process it, and write about it. Here’s the run down:
–I quit my job. My last day is this Saturday. I realized I need time to commit to fundraising and school, and that means I can’t work. It’s been a huge faith challenge. Who quits their job in order to raise money?! Apparently, I do.
*EDIT: I decided to go back to my job. God worked some things out, and this seems to be the plan for the moment.*
–I switched colleges. The school that I love cut my financial aid, so I had to switch to a new school. A bigger school. A scarier school. So far, it’s actually been pretty great. I’m studying things I want to learn, I love my classes, and I’ll graduate almost a year sooner than if I stayed at Athens.
–I met some of my squad in real life! Five of us went camping for a weekend, and it was fabulous. That weekend made me realize just how much I’d fallen in love with this group of people I haven’t even met.
–And I decided to change squads. Which means I’ll never meet the rest of #DSnackSquad. There are a lot of reasons why I made this decision: I am graduating earlier than expected, which means I can be done before launch if I wait until August; I’m not in good enough physical shape for parts of training camp; I’m not where I’d like to be fundraising-wise (and while I have faith God would have provided by my deadlines, I also have faith He’ll provide by the new deadlines); I need more time to take care of debts I owe here in the States; and a few other various reasons.
It’s not a decision I make lightly. I talked it over with my mom, who informed me she and my dad were thinking the same things. I made a pro/con list with my best friend. I prayed about it. I fought God over it. I cried about it. I weighed the scale of faith vs. wisdom. And this morning I e-mailed by mobilizer to ask about switching routes, and told my squad what’s going on.
I say this update is unofficial, because I haven’t heard back from my mobilizer yet, so I’m not 100% sure that the switch is happening. But, in my heart and in my spirit, I know it is.
I’m learning a lesson in vulnerability through this. Which is what the WR wanted from me before training camp. Maybe I’ll write about that soon.
In the meantime, please stay tuned for more updates (that should happen more frequently). I’ll let you know my new route and squad and all that jazz just as soon as I know!
Thank you to all of you who continue to pray for and support me! There is no possible way I could go through this without you. There aren’t enough words to explain how God is using you to love me. My goal is to show the love of Jesus Christ in practical ways, and that’s what you do for me. Thank you, so so much.
Edits:
I have officially switched from the D Squad to the H Squad. Instead of leaving in January, I’ll be launching in August of next year.
My new route is:
- August ’16: Cote d’Ivoire
- September ’16: Ghana
- October ’16: Burkina Faso
- November ’16: India
- December ’16: Nepal
- January ’17: Cambodia
- February ’17: Thailand
- March ’17: El Salvador
- April ’17: Honduras
- May ’17: Guatemala
- June ’17: Belize
