A year ago I was in my last semester of college.
A year ago I was accepted into the Disney College Program.
A year ago I was preparing to move to Florida to start my post-graduation life.
A year ago I had no idea what the World Race was.
And a year ago I had no idea I would apply to the World Race, twice in one year.
When I decided to do the Disney College Program right after graduating from college in December 2017, I was going in with an open mind. I saw myself doing anything and everything with my degree. I could see myself working at a higher education institute, I could see myself working at Disney forever, I could see myself going back to grad school, the list went on and on. I went to Disney in January 2018 with no idea what was going to happen for the next six months except for the fact that I was going to work at Disney, go to the parks for free, and somehow during all of that magic and pixie dust, God was going to lay something on my heart.
Early on in my program I met a girl at life group who went on and on about this thing called the World Race. She explained how she would be leaving her friends, family, job, and everything that she knew for 11 months to serve in 11 different countries. The more I looked into the World Race, the more interesting it sounded, being able to travel to different countries to serve, all while spreading the gospel, it all sounded amazing. But I never thought that I could be used in missions. I didn’t think I had a story to tell, and I just didn’t think that mission work was the thing for me.
The next few months at Disney were eye opening with my faith, my future, and basically every aspect of my life through a life changing church and life changing people. I felt like everywhere I turned the World Race was coming up, but I was avoiding it in every way that I could. After confirmation time and time again, I decided to take the leap of faith to apply for the World Race. Around this same time I had been praying about a job opportunity at a Christian university in Michigan so I applied to that as well, but I didn’t think anything would come of it. Then, I was faced with the options of either accepting the job offer in Michigan or accepting the offer for the World Race. I thought that by opening both doors, God would close one of them and make my decision easy. After a lot of praying and restless nights, I made the decision to leave Disney early to accept the job in Michigan.
Prior to my big move I was absolutely terrified. I was scared that I wouldn’t like the job, the people, the city, and everything in between, but I had complete confidence that God placed me here in Michigan for a reason. I had perfected my Pinterest inspired apartment, I had a Christ-centered community at work and at church, and I truly felt at home in Michigan. Being a Michigan newbie without my family or my close friends nearby gave me a lot of solo time to spend with God. My faith was at a new level of happiness. The kind of joy where you feel the Lord everywhere you go and you want to tell everyone about your happiness and love that you have experienced through God. And slowly I began thinking about the World Race again, but I was confused on why I was thinking about it again after I just got settled in Michigan. Up until this point, the World Race was more of an after thought. I never really thought about it that much because I still had those feelings that I couldn’t be used in missions and that it clearly wasn’t in God’s plans for me. I thought it was all in the past.
And that’s when it hit me.
I was trying out a new church. As I sat there preparing for the sermon, I prayed to God for clarity in His plans for me, whether that meant staying in Michigan or if the mission work specifically was really something that was for me. The pastor started his sermon by saying,“I just dropped off my son at launch for the World Race.”
The next month I took time to intentionally pray about what this all meant. At the time I didn’t understand what he was doing. I didn’t understand why he was wanting me to leave the job that I prayed for. I didn’t understand why I would leave Michigan after just getting here. I didn’t understand why His plans would have me miss seeing my best friends walk down the aisle at multiple weddings. I didn’t understand why He thought I could be used for missions. And at the time, I actually prayed for God to tell me not to go on the World Race or at least to go a different time.
The more I prayed about it all, the more it all made sense. He brought me here to Michigan to show me what true community was like. He wanted to show me what being surrounded by a Christ-centered environment was like and how much it could change me in the short amount of time that I’ve been here. He wanted to introduce certain people into my life, people that would change my life. And He wanted to show me how my purpose is so much bigger. I came to realize that there never was going to be this “perfect” time to leave home. But, there is always a time for people to know about Jesus.
In one year, God has shaken me to my core. He has answered prayer after prayer and shown his never ending faithfulness. He has shown me what it’s like to live a life full of LOVE and JOY. In one year he’s moved me from Ohio to Florida to Ohio to Michigan. In one year God did in fact lay something on my heart. It only took a few moves, a few tears, and two applications for the World Race until I said YES to His plans for me.
So, in August 2019 I’m entering a world of unknown to be part of the World Race to share the love of Jesus and to serve the world. As intimidating as 11 countries in 11 months sounds, I am stoked. I can’t wait to play soccer with the children of South Africa, to pray over those in Zimbabwe, to wash the feet of the weary in Zambia, to build relationships with the people in Malawi, to talk about Jesus with those in Vietnam, to teach the Bible to those in Cambodia, to construct churches for the believers in Laos, to show what beauty is to the women in Thailand, to explore God’s creation with those in Peru, to share a smile with someone in Bolivia, and to love like Jesus loved with those in Argentina.
Here I am Lord, I’m ready for this next year.
