We are currently 10 days away from training camp and two months away from launch date. How did time go by so fast? I remember when I got the call on October 7th while I was at an apple orchard petting a goat. I remember the first person I texted right after the phone call and how excited I was for this. That’s nine whole months ago which blows my mind because it felt like it happened yesterday.
Now for a little bit of honesty. These last nine months haven’t been the easiest and I’ve had to learn some life lessons the hard way. I had to cut some very complicated and toxic relationships out of my life and going through that along with major life changes had me very scared. As I was going through these rough times I would cry to God and ask what am I possibly going to gain from going through this. I was scared of even trusting myself.
I look back at those moments of doubt now and I think to myself “well look at you now”. God knows my insecurities and knew exactly what I needed to learn in order for me to become a better person for this trip. I had to learn that the concept of being strong. I didn’t see this at first when I was struggling but through time I had this realization that this is what God is trying to teach me. Being strong doesn’t mean how much weight you can lift or how long you can hike for but that its about how much you believe in yourself to handle the things in front of you. It took cutting out someone who was supposed to be there for me every step of my life for me to realize how strong God had made me.
Looking at the big picture this is something I really did have to learn right now. I am going on a nine month mission trip… thats huge. Although I was so excited about this trip I did have doubts that I could do it. I doubted that I was strong enough to handle the time away from the people I love. I doubted that I was strong enough to handle the things I’m going to see and hear while out in the world. God heard my doubts and he guided me through a situation so that I could learn for myself that I am truly strong enough. Also, someone really important in my life was verbally reminding about how I can get through anything and that truly made all the difference. I feel so empowered now that I have found strength and confidence in myself. I definitely couldn’t have learned this at a better time, it just reminds me to trust in the plan that God has for me. Truly everything does happen for a reason.
All in all I know I can handle anything that comes my way with God and people who support me by my side. Learning this has made me even more excited about this mission trip. I literally have dreams about it and how amazing its going to be traveling the world telling people about God. Everything is coming up so fast and instead of doubting if I can be strong enough for it I am embracing it and welcoming the changes that are about to happen. God is so good to me and I can’t wait to start telling the world in two months!
