When everyone is telling you no, but God is saying yes – what do you do? Since I have been talking about doing the World Race the one question people asked me was “Why do you want to do that now?” I have a great job, I’m in school, and I’m involved in an amazing church and they can’t understand why I would want to go do something like the World Race and leave for basically a whole year.
If I had been in the same situation 1 year ago, there is no way I would have even been thinking about going on a missions trip for any longer than a week or 2, but God had a different plan for me. One year ago God changed my life with something that no one could have ever expected, and I'm so glad that He did. One night I went on a hike with my small group from church; we had a Bible study and then went to a blue hole where they had a rope swing. After a few people swung into the water it was my turn, but as soon as I left the rock I was standing on I slipped from the rope. I fell 10 feet from the rope and hit rock which I continued to hit my head on while rolling down a slope and ending face down in the water. One of my friends saw me begin to fall and ran down to the water. After pulling me out they didn't know what to do because we were about 2 1/2 miles out in the woods and it was getting dark. They had to carry me out about 2 miles before meeting up with the paramedics who took me to the hospital. To this day I do not remember any of that happening; the first thing I remember is waking up to my brother in the emergency room telling me I fell and was in the hospital. From the accident I had a skull fracture, a severe concussion, and some temporary nerve damage. God performed several miracles that night, but one that still amazes me is that after hitting all that rock I didn't break skin open anywhere other than a couple of light scratches on my hands. With how long it took them to get me to the hospital I would have bled out had I broken skin on my skull. I have fully recovered from the accident, but I think about it everyday and thank God for my life.
God put some amazing people in my life, and I am so unworthy to have the friends that I do, but I am extremely thankful. I would not be here without them.
I love all these people so much, and not only were they there for me during so many trials this past year, but they have never ceased to pray for me which is the most important thing. If you ever wonder if prayer works I can promise you that it does. Along with family and my church I had people praying for me all over the world and a lot of them were people I have never even met, but they heard my story and began praying. I know that God saved my life because of these prayers, and it is definitely not because of anything that I had done.
Before my accident I wasn't really living for God. I was more just passing through life and going to church, but had no real relationship with Him. God has shown me that life is more than just the day to day activities I am involved in, and it's about a whole lot more than just me. Now when people ask me "Why the world race, why now?" I can tell them my story. I am here on this earth for a short time which could end at any second, and I do not want to waste any more of that living selfishly. Life is not guaranteed, but if you have accepted Christ then He is there with you every step of the way and will never leave you. He is our only source of hope, and I want nothing more than to live for Him and fulfill His will for my life. God has a plan for every single person in this world, and I believe going on the world race is part of his plan for me. Why should I wait?
~Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
~Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."
