Ahh okay, I have been putting off this post for a while now. I have spent the past two weeks staring at a blank screen, typing up a blog for you all, and then erasing everything I typed. Most people who know me know that I don’t like to be in situations where I feel vulnerable. I don’t talk about personal stuff too much and I try to avoid any kind of conversation topic that could lead to something that I feel uncomfortable talking about. Even just having a blog where I could put my thoughts out in the open felt like a leap for me. Anyways, after two weeks of thinking this post through and overworking the backspace key, I have decided just to tell you guys pretty bluntly how I got to this point. (*deep breath* here we goo)
At the beginning of 2018 I got a new job. I started working at a movie theater that is two towns from me, about a 25-minute drive to get there. Almost every time I mention how far my job is to people I get the same expression. Most commonly people remind me how expensive gas is or their eyes just get a little wider. I don’t mind the distance though. I really love to drive, especially when I am alone. I like to use the 25-minute drive as a time to pray or reflect on things. There was one day that I had stumbled upon the World Race website and I knew it was something I wanted to do but I honestly didn’t see it as a realistic option for me. I decided to apply anyways. After only about a week I had a phone interview and after that interview, I was sure of one thing—– that I would not be accepted to the world race (I didnt feel like the interview went too well). I was happy with life though, I wasn’t completely sure that if I got accepted I would want to go anyways. The distance and time away from everyone and everything that I love made me feel uneasy.
Then I got a call and I was told I got accepted. I was in. I was… confused.
A couple of nights after I got the call telling me that I was accepted, my best friend and I were scheduled to work late together. Sitting in the dim, empty theater at about 12:30 a.m., Nikki and I got to talking about life. I told her that I got too comfortable with the things I had. I just woke up every day and tried to stay out of God’s way because as far as I was concerned, what I had was pretty nice. I didn’t see any reason to pray and ask for direction. I think I knew that if I prayed for direction I would lose some of these things that I valued so much. On the 25-minute drive home that night I asked God to do what he needed to do in my life to get me to where I needed to be.
Things changed. Everything changed actually.
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But I ignored it (haha good going elisa).
I honestly just tried to fix all of the things that had just been taken from me. I wanted things to be back to normal. Later that week I was watching a video on youtube and the man in the video said “would you still accept God’s plan for you if it didnt look how you thought it would.” I decided to try again and I did the whole prayer again. Things changed again. Things were more difficult this time honestly, but it was very evident to me at this point that I needed to go on the world race. He got rid of all of the things keeping me from the race.
With that being said, on September 5th 2019 I will be leaving home for The World Race: Gap Year. Gap Year is a 9 month journey to 3 countries around the world. In these countries me and the other members of my “squad” will be serving in local churches and ministries, working with children in orphanages, spreading love to women and children stuck in prostitution due to human trafficking, teaching kids in the communities we visit, growing and creating churches, among many other things. The route that I chose will take me to Swaziland, Thailand, and Nicaragua.
Now that I have been accepted and decided to pursue this I will need a lot of support. The best help being prayer. Though I am aware the path I have been directed to is more obscure and different than most people who are my age I would greatly appreciate any kind of support I can get. The goal of this trip is to go out of my comfort zone and be able to show love and joy to those who may not know it. In addition to support and prayer, I also need to raise $16,600 over the next year to cover the costs of travel, food, housing, insurance, and other miscellaneous costs. Any kind of help or support is appreciated. I am super excited to be going on this little journey and its my hope that you would be excited too!
(thank you for reading this all too)
