What a journey it’s been to get to my very first blog post ever. I honestly still can’t believe I have committed to the World Race. Every time I think about the places I will be a year from now, I can’t even comprehend what that will feel like since my life currently includes sitting in an office every day doing taxes and then going on to complete the rest of my regularly scheduled activities. I have little tastes of adventure here and there, but for the most part, my life is pretty laid-back. I’m only a half hour away from where I grew up, but for 11 months of 2019, I’ll be thousands of miles away from the place I call home and thousands of miles away from all the people I love. I still just can’t quite grasp that. So why am I choosing to leave everything I know for an 11 month journey that is so expensive, could potentially be very dangerous, and is light years out of my comfort zone?
It all starts with Jesus.
He’s completely changed my life. I grew up in a Christian home in a wonderful Christian family, and for many years, I would have said I was a Christian. I went through phases where I would be all gung-ho about reading my Bible and praying, but then after about a month, I’d get tired of it and stop. And so the cycle continued. I did all of the churchy things, and most people would’ve called me the perfect little church girl. During college though, I really started to question if I was even a Christian at all. I still lived a good life, went to church, surrounded myself with good friends, but I just never understood what was missing. I wanted to want God but I just didn’t. So I started to pretend because how in the world could I admit to everyone who definitely thought I was a Christian that I actually was really struggling and didn’t even think I was a Christian at all?!?! And pretending unfortunately tends to be a pretty easy thing to do if you live a pretty good life. After college, I started making a series of bad choices, and though I outwardly still looked pretty put together, I was very broken on the inside. I kept trying to make myself happy, and no matter how hard I tried, nothing worked. Imagine that. Finally, after hitting an incredibly low point in my life, I decided that I really had nothing to lose anymore. Nothing I was choosing for myself was working, and I was ready to fully surrender my life to Jesus. And not that that one moment instantaneously turned my life around, but in some sense it did. Jesus is continually changing me and making me more and more into the person he created me to be. In the past year and a half, I have felt fulfilled in a way I never could have imagined. Not to say that everything in my life is perfect, but instead of this deep sense of hopelessness and despair, I get to live with the knowledge that one day, I will see my Creator face to face and more fully realize the amazing depths of his love and care for me. WOW, I can’t wait for that day!!!
So why the World Race?
Over the past few months, I have felt this sense that I simply want more. My deepest desire is that Jesus’ love would be so present in my life that people couldn’t help but want a relationship with Him. I know I don’t always live that out perfectly, but it’s want I want. I want him to always be changing me and making me more like him. I want every single person I encounter to know who he is and how much they are loved by their Creator and that life doesn’t have to be just something you get through, but it can be beautiful, fulfilling, and full of adventure.
The World Race excites me for so many reasons. I get to be the hands and feet of Jesus all throughout the world. I’m so excited to serve people through many different types of ministry and for the opportunity to explore all these different types of ministry and discover what passion God may have placed in my heart that I can act upon after my return home. I’m looking forward to meeting my team, living in close community with them throughout my time on the field, and being real and open with them about my struggles, my passions, and my moments of victory. I can’t wait to see the beautiful world God created. I’m ready for the chance to take a leap of faith and venture into the unknown because I know God will always be with me. I’m so excited to share my journey with you and share what God is doing in all parts of the world.
The World Race gives me the opportunity to grow deeply in my own faith, live in community in a discipleship setting, discover where and to what God may be leading me after my return, and to live out the Great Commission where Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all nations.
I hope you continue to follow me throughout the World Race. I will be posting prayer requests, stories of my experiences, and things I am learning on my Blog weekly while on the field and periodically up until I launch.
