I have never really been a great listener. When I was younger I blamed it on some ear problems I had as a baby. Whenever my parents would hear me make this claim they would laugh or roll their eyes, maybe even both. They would quickly tell me that my listening problems had nothing to do with whether I could hear the sound but that I just chose to ignore what was being said. My mom called it “selective hearing.” Regardless of what they would say I clung to my theory of hearing problems.
Welp… 20 years later I think I have to face the reality that I have a listening problem.
See, I have always been a learn as you go kind of girl. Why have someone explain it to you when you can just experience it yourself?
Can you imagine the potential problems with this mindset?
Let’s just say that I have learned all of my lessons the hard way.
This “great quality” of mine was not only limited to conversations with my family. That would be too easy. No…it made its way into every aspect of my life. Looking back, my faith and relationship with God has definitely been impacted the most.
You can’t really tell God to leave you alone and let you figure it out on your own. I tried many times, but it obviously isn’t how we are called to live our lives.
But I ignored that small problem…
Now, a little glimpse at how my listening problem has impacted my life…
I felt my call into vocational ministry when I was working on staff at the church camp I had grown up going to, Camp Loucon. (A piece of Vesper Hill will always be with me!) And finally after working on summer staff for 4 years, I accepted the fact that God was calling me in a completely different direction than I had planned for my life. I was about to begin my last year of undergrad and had just spent three years pursuing a Biology and Chemistry degree.
If I would have only listened, I could have avoided all those semesters of science classes…
I distinctly remember a moment during my first summer on staff, right before I was going to start college, when I felt God telling me that I was meant to work in ministry. I bartered with God (because that is a good idea) and said “well duh that’s why I am working at camp this summer, but maybe once I become a doctor I will lead some medical mission trips.”
And that was my plan!
But it never felt completely right. I was never fully invested in my planned future, even though I was taking all of the required steps to be prepared for medical school. Four years after I attempted to barter with God, my call to ministry never changed and never went away. It was the one consistent aspect of my life during college.
But lots of people don’t always immediately answer God’s call! It sometimes takes people even longer that four years! Right?
That is exactly what I told myself when I realized I hadn’t listened. I was just being human and God was just being God. This is how this relationship was supposed to work!
I don’t know if you have realized, but I really didn’t want to admit my fault in the situation. I definitely wasn’t going to admit I had a listening problem.
So I bet it isn’t too much of a surprise, but I originally heard about the World Race years ago. I don’t specifically remember now if I heard about it through a friend or through some online searching- I guess the specifics don’t really matter much anymore. Anyways, I found out about the World Race around the same time that I was looking at different seminaries to apply to. I remember looking at the website and thinking it looked awesome and about how much I had always loved mission trips. But I was applying to seminary which is three years and the World Race is for 11 months, so I just brushed the idea off. But then I kept meeting people that were either going on the World Race or had gone on the World Race. I started keeping up with their blogs and then skimming other racers blogs. It became the website I would always look at after I finished checking all of my social media. So I was checking it either everyday or every other day. Maybe it was a little excessive, but I wanted to know about everything. And as I learned more and saw the people and ministries that the racers were doing life with, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. But I had just started my masters and seminary is three years so I decided I would wait and seriously consider it after I graduated. I had absolutely no idea what I was planning on doing after graduation so this would be perfect. That was my plan and this time it was gonna work. I mean its a mission trip, of course God would be ok with my plan this time…right?
WRONG! I continued to keep up with the blogs and the routes and it got to a point where I couldn’t ignore it anymore. The September 2015 routes had just been released and as I looked at each route and read about each country my heart broke and tears filled my eyes. I was overcome with a desire to meet the people in these countries and love them with everything that I have. Deep within these overwhelming feelings of need, desire, love and passion I heard and felt God telling me to “Go….NOW!”
I was finally in… I would apply for the September 2015 launch date!
Many people have asked me, “Why now? You aren’t done with seminary yet.”
And I tell them that I am finally listening! I am hearing God and I don’t want to ignore God or this call for another 4 years. I want to be faithful to God because I know that God is going to move in big ways through my squad, my team and me as we embark on the World Race and share love with the nations.
So what does that mean for me now?
I will be launching in September of this year (2015) and I will be leaving the U.S. to embark on an 11 month adventure to 11 different countries. My squad and I will be doing ministry in Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
The World Race is all about being the hands and feet of God and I am beyond excited to serve God in this way. But I CANNOT do it alone. The mission field can be a tough, draining and exhausting place and I need your love and support as I prepare to leave and while I am gone. I want you to EXPERIENCE THIS JOURNEY WITH ME. We are called to be a community of believers and I want to carry my community with me around the world. (If you would like to get updates from my blog click on the subscribe tab under my picture)
I would love it if you would prayerfully consider supporting me in three ways: Prayer. Share. Support. I need to raise $16,257 in order to complete the World Race. This includes all travel expenses for 11 months, all food for 11 months, and all lodging for 11 months. If you feel led to financially support me, please pray about it first. If you still feel like God is leading you to support me financially you can do it right through this page by clicking the “SUPPORT ME!” button next to my fundraising progess bar at the top of this page. You can also mail financial support or support me monthly (This information is listed in my first blog post). Please consider supporting me in prayer and financially as I embark on the World Race to be the hands and feet of God in the world.
(All financial support is tax deductible.)
