I am now a world racer! Wow! It’s a crazy thought to process for me. I never thought about it really, I just didn’t feel like I fit the part. As many of you know, my friend, Elizabeth, did the race last year. She actually was the person that told me that I would love the race so much. She then told me later that a few of the routes had Africa as a three month long destination. If you don’t already know, God placed Africa (more specifically, the children of Africa) on my heart a couple years ago and I have not forgotten about it. I decided to simply look at the routes as soon as she told me Africa was involved. She said to just look and pray on it, but it didn’t sell me right away. In my head, it was just a huge missions trip that wasn’t made for me. I talked with my other friend, Jerica, about it. She told me to pray about it, but that it would be an amazing opportunity and that I would love it. She reminded me that sometimes we just have to take steps and if the doors close then we know that they aren’t the places that we are to walk, but we won’t know unless we take those first steps.
I prayed about it and asked God to either open the doors or close them, but I only got more excited and nervous at the same time. I decided to fill out the application and submit it over Christmas break with Jerica’s help. With anticipation, I waited to set up an on-the-phone interview. As I waited, I was filled with nervousness, thinking that this is not where God wanted me…it couldn’t be.
Then the interview came and the race kept becoming more of a realness for me. The morning of my interview I took some time and prayed before the scheduled time. I told God that this interview was either going to be an open door or a closed door and that either way, I was putting it in His hands. I had the interview, and at the end, I was told that I would find out the decision in 5-7 business days. I was told that they talk about the interview and have a conversation, and then they pray on it. This was another happy moment for me because I loved that the staff decided to pray as well, it wasn’t just me that was praying about it.
Less than 24 hours later, I got a call from them. I didn’t answer right away mostly because I was scared, but I also was busy in my moms room. I knew I would have been able to slip away and talk if needed, but I convinced myself that I would call back later. They left a message and said they wanted to talk with me about where they were at with the interview process, and only needed a few minutes of my time. I freaked out because I thought that this was bad, nobody else that I knew had a second mini interview after the first one. I thought for sure they were doubting me. After I found a time to call them back, I went with Jerica to one of the teacher’s offices in the high school. I was so nervous that I was shaking, but Jerica reminded me that it is in God’s hands.
I called them back and they immediately started congratulating me on my acceptance and how they were so excited for me to take these next steps if I felt led in that direction for sure. This was God opening the door about as wide as He could for me to step in, a resounding yes. Just one day later they knew, and in my spirit, I did too.
I have now accepted God’s call for me into this nine month long missions trip, and I am learning to be brave and that fear is a liar. Yes, I am scared to be gone from my comfort of home for nine months, but I do realize that this has been building up in my heart for a while. I am excited for the next year and for God’s call for me this coming fall. As I walk into this journey, the Lord is teaching me daily to be brave. He truly is showing me that fear is the biggest liar in my life right now.
