WELCOME TO MY FIRST EVER BLOG POST!! I am so so excited to actually be doing this; I’ve been reading blogs like these for about a year now, so to be actually writing one is so surreal. Throughout my journey on this incredible trip, I will be writing updates and stories and just amazing God things that happen, so I’m super excited to be sharing my trip with all of you!
First off, I want to start with just thanking everyone who has prayed for me concerning this trip and other trips that I have been on, and all the love and support I have received! You all have played such a big role in my life and in getting me to this point! I am beyond blessed to have such amazing people in my life who push me to grow deeper with the Lord and to encourage me in this path.
Second, I just want to share a little more about my trip specifically. The Gap Year consists of spending nine months in three different continents, all for three months. I will be spending my time in Guatemala, Thailand, Malaysia, and Swaziland! I am so excited to see how I am stretched on this trip and experience times when I truly need to rely on Him. I don’t know the specifics of ministry yet, or of where we will sleep (a tent or a home), but that’s the fun of it, am I right?!
I have such a longing to deeper my relationship with Christ and to tell others about Him, and God has placed this desire on my heart. Four days before I was accepted, one of my youth leaders actually told me “God doesn’t give desire without fulfillment”, and here I am, fulfilled and so ready to go!!
I’ve wanted to do this trip for so long, but concerns and fears started building up after I sent in my application and realized this is actually a possibility. I spent a lot of time praying before and after my phone interview, up until I got my acceptance call. That morning, I was reading my daily devotional and October 17 just so happened to be about anxiety of the future. I had to read it a few times until I finally felt the Lord’s peace. I was okay with whatever were to happen with this trip and if I were not to be accepted, I knew the Lord had better for me. I was at total tranquility as I soaked in the Lord’s promise of continual presence and peace, and for the first time, I truly believed that God had the best for me. That morning, I gave all my anxiety, my fear, and my worry to the Lord and I let Him take control.
Luke 12: 22-26 “Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
I felt a calling on my life a year ago to go on this trip, God had promised me that I would do more missions work, yet I still doubted Him. I let fear take over, and anxiety, and everything not of Him, yet once I completely let my guard down and let God take over, I had peace and I remembered His promises. Throughout this trip, there’s a lot of things that are nerving and scary, but I know God has the best for me and I find my rest in that promise.
