Wild. Hard. Addicting. Exhausting. Joyous. Exhilarating. Challenging. Ever-
changing. Eye-opening. Full of answers and questions.
All these phrases have defined some part of this year long, crazy, journey.
I am currently one short leap away from entering my last month on the World Race.
It has become my normal to acquire a new home and learn a new culture monthly.
It has been normal to constantly live in the unknown. I am currently in week 41 of
this 46 week journey.
And the only natural question is: “What’s next?”
Short answer to that question: I will be returning from the Race in early December
and then I will be alumni team leading for a new squad going on the Race,
beginning in January 2019. I will be with them for their first 2 months of their 11
month trip. In January I will be in the Ivory Coast. In February I will be in Ghana…
Long answer: continuation to the short answer…I am honored and eager to step
into this opportunity. However, it didn’t start like that. If I am honest, I was ready
to dive back into life at home. I will have been gone 11 months without all the
norms I have accumulated over the past 22 years. And I was ready to step back
into life at home and be surrounded by familiar friends and family. I was tired of
certain aspects of the Race. I looked forward to the freedom that will come from
being at home. I was still enjoying the Race but excited for what was next, STATE-
SIDE. This feeling came month 8.
At the end of month 8, my mentor asked me to pray about alumni team leading.
Immediately I had premeditated a “NO!”. However when I took it to God He
softened my heart and reminded me that He had been preparing me for this. He
had been bringing it up as early as month 2 of the Race. He showed me the joy and
growth that will come from it and quickened my spirit to a “YES!”.
To be honest as I am writing this I was tempted to state how insecure and
unqualified I feel to do this… however God quickly prompted me to STOP that
thought process BECAUSE He has qualified me. I need to stop clinging to the
excuse that I am unqualified because, duh, without Him we are all greatly
unqualified. However if we have proclaimed Him as our Lord and Savior then we
live in a state of qualification through Him. (Romans 8:30). He is waiting for His
people to firmly stand on their identity that is eternally in Jesus. It’s crazy how I
can quickly resort to a state of “I am nothing” when I know that actually I am
“cherished, loved and KNOWN by the creator of the universe that holds everything
in His hands”. And so are you!
The enemy will always try to counter what God is whispering in your ear, however
he only has the power that we give him.
So I will end with this: I am beyond honored to step into this new season. I rejoice
because my Creator has crafted qualifications within me to step into this season. He
is my strength. He has placed aspects of His glory within me (Rom. 8:30) and I
refuse to hide them from a dying world.
I will leave you with this challenge. What excuses have you been clinging to that
states you are unqualified? I challenge you to let them go and stand on the firm
ground of our identity in Christ. Choose to live in the state of qualification that
Christ has gifted us with. You are capable of far more than you have allowed
yourself to dream of. Step into whatever scares you with confidence.
Thank you for your support over the past 10 months. I am quickly reminded how I
could not be here without your support. I thank Jesus for placing each of you in my
life. Thank you for every prayer, every comment on my blogs, every phone call or
text, every dollar donated, and every bit of encouragement. This journey has not
been easy and all YOU do to support me impacts me beyond what you could
imagine. SERIOUSLY, this trip has taught me how important support from home is
when away from home. Often times I don’t have constant access to WiFi and
communication, however when I do, I always feel so blessed to have messages
awaiting me from y’all. It encourages me vastly.
If you would like to continue to partner with me on this journey that will extend into
January and February 2019 you can join me in prayer. Pray for my new squad.
From experience, this time preparing to leave for 11 months is very FULL of
emotions (ranging from excitement to feeling terrified). I would LOVE LOVE LOVE
your prayer for them. You can also pray for me as I finish this season on the race
and transition home for 3 weeks and then back out for 2 months. Also, I will be
fundraising again for this 2 month trip. If you feel lead to support me financially you
can donate through the “donate” link at the top of the page. Thank you again! You
all have impacted my life and I greatly appreciate YOU!
Thank you and live loved,
Micaela
