In four months, I go to launch.
As each day passes, my excitement grows and my heart beats a little faster; this thing is really happening.
Over Spring Break, I had the opportunity to meet some of the people I will be spending the next year of my life with, and it was an experience that I’m finding hard to describe. We weren’t really friends yet, but we knew we were going to be. We hadn’t learned each other’s quirks and we hadn’t even spent more than 48 hours with each other, but despite all the uncertainty, standing with these people at church on Sunday morning, I felt a certain calm. I felt at home, and I felt safe. These people, my squadmates, were bursting at the seams with talents and personality, stitched together by this crazy obedience to follow a calling, and determined with an inexplicable urgency to love each other as swiftly and as much as possible.
We chatted about the tip-top mountain peaks and deep dark crevasses of fundraising. We spent hours in REI with lots of instruction on gear which was overwhelming to say the least. In the midst of the gear shopping and excitement, we were able to share how we’re really feeling about this whole World Race thing. Surprisingly, everyone, like me, was both struggling and succeeding. I found out that some people had raised 5 times as much money as I had, and some had raised less. I learned that I’m the youngest on the squad, but that the uncertainty I feel is well matched across every age.
So how am I doing with this whole World Race thing?
Almost everyone I talk to asks the same two questions:
Are you excited?
How is fundraising going?
YES! I am excited. Some days are harder than others, but my constant feeling of excitement is persistent.
Fundraising for the World Race is the hardest thing I have ever done. I am 15.4 % fully funded. WHICH IS INCREDIBLE OKAY!! GO GOD. That is over halfway to my first deadline, but still a little over $2,000 away. While this might now seem like a lot of funding, I am so encouraged, because on top of this monetary support, I have received SO MUCH emotional and spiritual support since the beginning of this process.
As I continue working toward my fundraising goals, I realized that I have not been putting enough effort into asking God for monthly supporters. When I met my squadmates over Spring Break, they expressed to me how much their monthly donors had helped them in this fundraising process. So, I began asking God for monthly supporters, and guess what: two days later, God gave me a monthly supporter! A few days later, He gave me another! That’s what He does. He provides, and He meets my needs.
As God continues to meet my needs with the help of people like you, I am learning that there is a never-ending number of ways I can be relational and purposeful in my fundraising efforts. So, if you’re reading this and thinking “Hey I would love to chat more about this,” call me beep me if you wanna reach me. Message me on Facebook, facetime me, whatever your favorite form of communication is. I want to hang out!!!
So, I am believing that God provides where he calls, and I am reminding myself that this journey is not for or about me and is out of my control. I am saying yes, and believing that “impossible” things will be done.
? Alexis
Seriously:
Hang out with me
Send me a prayer request
Drink some coffee or watch a sunrise; I’m down for anything
