You read that write, I applied to the World Race in a laundromat.
This past summer, I was living with two friends of mine with a host family while working in the city of Pittsburgh. My friends and I were working at summer day camp on the Northside of Pittsburgh when the August 2018 application came out. I had been talking to a few friends about applying, but was on the fence about it.
One day after work, my friends and I realized that we should probably do laundry after having not done any for almost two weeks. (Sidenote: we had to go to a laundromat since our host family had a family of their own, so it was much easier to just go and do it ourselves.) We brought our laptops, since the WIFI at our host family’s house was pretty inconsistent. I had no idea that I would open the World Race application and not leave for another two-ish hours because I needed Internet connection to finish the process.
My laundry had been done for almost an hour and a half, and I was typing away on my laptop thinking how weird it was that I was making one of my most life-changing decisions inside a laundromat. I mean to be fair, not a lot happens inside a laundromat, at least not to my knowledge. It wasn’t until I was chatting with a girl who I will be traveling on the race (SHOUTOUT MANTHA!) with when she told me HOW COOL God was for using an unusual place like that to work through. Then I began thinking…
God works in unusual ways.
God used a laundromat (for its’ WIFI mostly) to bring me out of my comfort zone. He used that place and that space to speak and change me for the better good.
As I started my last semester of college this past week, I am reminded of how weird God can be. I was so sick this week that I couldn’t even start my internship on the first day, so they sent me home. I wake up some mornings, and I have acne on my face that I don’t want. My hair is frizzy when I don’t want it to be. People stop talking to me because I no longer want to party or drink with them. All of these random things are actually God in the making of something. Little things like these are God’s way of getting to you and breaking you down.
Breaking you down, for more room for Him.
You can go about life questioning God and all that He does, OR you can embrace all these weird things He does for you and trust him. Trust him and trust his process.
I ask a lot of questions and do a lot of complaining, but deep down, I know that no matter how much I fuss, kick, scream, I still won’t be in control of this situation. It may seem unfair, right? But is it?
There is a reason for everything. There was a reason I was in that laundromat that day. There was a reason the WIFI wasn’t working. There was a reason, and I chose to trust Him.
Wherever you are at, whatever you are facing, it is happening for a reason. Instead of fighting and resisting God, choose to trust him and obey him. There is a reason for it anyhow.
“My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:30
God bless,
Julia
