Greetings to all and thank you for stopping by!
I’ve never made a blog post before, so I’m excited to see how God will use this as a place to reach and update others. If you’re wondering how I got here or why I’m doing this, please continue reading.
I remember one night at small group, I met the sweetest soul, Kelli. I was so drawn to the light she carried and I didn’t even know her. Our very first meeting and conversation was pretty much about missions. She mentioned something about the World Race. I had no idea what it was or what she did until she told me it was a mission organization that she was a part of and was blessed to have the opportunity to serve the Lord in different countries for eleven months. The one thing that really stood out to me was that she said I would be a perfect fit for the WR. Even to this day, after being accepted and in the process of preparation for the trip, it hasn’t left my mind.
I am blown away by how God works in the way He confirms the calling He has for you, especially when He uses people or even through the littlest and simplest of things. I wanted clarity and answers about doing the Race. A couple months went by, and I saw Kelli again at small group and she wore a t-shirt that had the WR logo on it. We had another conversation about the Race and she told me to take their online quiz. I did. I got a 99.9%. I was so excited and shocked in the moment. God was affirming the call through her every time we saw each other.
I put off applying for a whole year and a couple months because I was so nervous, I didn’t feel like I was equipped enough, I didn’t know if it was really God calling me to this, or whatever the reason I believed or whatever excuse I made up, made me put it in a box. And sure, I was still stoked about the quiz and I still asked Holy Spirit if this was true, but all the doubt, lies, and discouragement kept creeping in the back of my mind. As I played more and more, I saw the WR literally EVERYWHERE. And as I kept asking Jesus if this was really where He was leading me, it became more and more evident that He was telling me, “Yes.”
So after a year, I finally applied for the WR Semester Routes 2020 with much excitement. Many of the routes caught my eye, but I wanted to make sure that it was His Spirit guiding and leading my decision. Everywhere I looked, elephants and Thailand kept popping up. When I went back to look at the routes again, Thailand was an option, but so was Cambodia and Thailand. My heart stirred when I was staring at the Cambodia and Thailand route. After fifteen minutes of my heart beating out of my chest, I felt Holy Spirit lead me to the Cambodia and Thailand route. I filled out the application and submitted it. My spirit was overwhelmed with grace and peace.
I would say not even a week later, I got a call while I was at the register at work. I looked at who called when the hour was over. I didn’t recognize the number at all, so I didn’t even really bother to call back. That’s when I got an email from the WR saying that they tried calling me and asked when a good time would be to call again because they wanted to share some good news with me. I knew what they were going to say and my heart raced. I called back to find out that I had been accepted!!!! WHAT!! I immediately thanked Jesus and I started jumping and running in the back room. I cried so many tears of joy.
Ever since then, it has been a really cool process. Jesus is already teaching me so much about how to praise Him through literally everything, even writer’s block; to ask and pray boldly and specifically; to remain faithful in new beginnings and in this new season. There’s so many more little details to the story than just this, but this is what was led on my heart to share. More posts to come about the WR and this new adventure I get to go on with Jesus! I seriously appreciate each and every single one of you who read this all the way through!
Deuteronomy 5:33, “Moses told the people, ‘You must be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God, following His instructions in every detail. Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.'”
