I am currently a senior in high school. As many of you probably know, seniors are constantly being asked “What are your plans after high school? What college are you going to? What do you want to be when you grow up?” All that jazz. Well, up until recently, my answer was a nervous laugh followed with an “I don’t know.” The truth was, I didn’t know what I wanted to do and I didn’t know what God wanted me to do. I had two ideas in mind of potentially what I could do, but it was never very clear to me which one to choose, or which college I would attend to further my education in that area.
One option I was considering was dancing. I am a dancer. I have danced pretty much my entire life and I still love it to this day. I consider dance one of my passions and it has been a dream of mine to dance professionally someday. However, when it came to college, I had no idea where I would want to go.
Another option was being a teacher. I love kids! I love playing with kids, babysitting, teaching kids, everything. I even took a class my junior year of high school that basically taught me how to be a teacher. Did I like the class? Yes. Could I see myself being a teacher in the future? Yes. But is it my dream and passion to go into teaching? I don’t know yet.
That brings me to the World Race Gap Year. How did I know this nine month mission trip is what I want to do after high school? Well, it all started this past summer when I went on a 10-day mission trip to Uganda with some people from my church youth group. I loved every minute of the trip and at the end, one of my group leaders, who has been on her own World Race before, mentioned the World Race Gap Year. Although it sounded interesting, I didn’t take the idea very seriously. To be honest, the thought of going away for nine months terrified me. So, I put the idea aside and didn’t think about it for a couple months.
Fast forward to September and one of my close friends leaves on her own World Race Gap Year for nine months. Her leaving definitely reopened my thinking of going on the trip, but because of my fear of leaving for nine months, I tried to ignore it. God had other plans. Instead of forgetting about it, I could not stop thinking about it. I prayed and journaled about it, I cried about it, and I was still unsure of what to do because I didn’t think I wanted to do it. Well, after looking at information, blogs, and videos on the race, I found myself thinking differently. Instead of wondering whether or not I should apply, my mindset had shifted to as if I had already applied and been accepted. I found myself thinking of ways I could fundraise, what I would bring, what I would experience at training camp, etc. I felt like I had already made the decision to go on the trip. But wait- I thought I didn’t want to do it? Maybe I didn’t want to do it at first, but God definitely did. So, one night, I sat on the couch with my mom talking about this big decision and we eventually found ourselves filling out the World Race Gap Year application right then and there.
Looking back on the whole decision making process, I can see clearly now that God made the decision to go on this trip for me. Now, I am so excited and eager to get started on everything! Although I am still slightly nervous and overwhelmed about the trip, I know in my heart that for whatever God’s reason is, I am supposed to go on this mission trip.
