I’m the person who doesn’t like to be in trouble, or disappoint people, which has lead to me being really responsible and grow up in the comfort zones of those around me to make them happy. All my life I’ve listened and acted upon what other people have told me to do. Get good grades, be responsible, go to college, get a good job. And although people have good intentions, and some of what they’re saying has value, you have to remember they are not God.
In the past few years of being in college and really growing into who I am, who God is asking me to be, I’ve realized that I am anything but comfortable. I love and thrive and yearn to live outside of my comfort zone. This fire within me to be motivated, to challenge myself, to really live life is from the Lord. I started asking myself this past year, why am I even in college? Is this what I wanted, or what other people wanted for me? What about what God wanted for me?
I grew up in Maine, and although I really wanted to go elsewhere, decided to stay in Maine for college so that I wouldn’t spend as much money. I made the “right”, responsible, safe decision yet again. I went to college because that’s what everyone else was doing, and that’s what my parents were telling me to do. And yes, college has been incredible for me, but I started realizing that most of the decisions in my life I was making because someone else told me to do it.
I started my self-reconstructing journey in Rolla, Missouri; about two years ago when I decided to work at a summer camp that also had a zoo. I had never been there before, and didn’t know a soul when I went. But for the first time, it was a big decision I was making in my life that I really wanted, not for anyone else. When I was talking about going, and of course was so excited about everything, my Mom was not. “Why don’t you just get a summer job in Maine?” She couldn’t understand why I wanted to go 23 hours away from home for the entire summer. The old me would have listened to her advice, however my good friend Nik gave me a piece of advice that lit a blaze inside of me that I don’t think will ever go out. When I was sharing my hesitation about going to Missouri he said, “Being comfortable is dangerous.” WOW. OKAY. You have my attention. I realized that if I didn’t go do this for myself, I’ll fall into the routine everyone else does, and do what feels comfortable. That is not where I felt God leading me.
Let me tell you something. GOD NEVER CALLS US TO BE COMFORTABLE. He calls us to live lives that are hard, uncomfortable at many times, and in constant growth.
With graduation approaching, I felt it was time for me to start making decisions that God was telling me, not anyone else. I’ve never traveled out of the country, and I’ve felt this burning desire to go explore and see what God has made all around the world. I really wanted to go to multiple countries, and I wanted to go with a group of people to be able to have connections with once I came home. I did some research and decided the Peace Corps was good enough, because nothing else was coming up. I was on campus filling out my Peace Corps application when my friend Jordyn walked by. She asked what I was doing, and proceeded to tell me that someone we knew was currently on the World Race. The World Race filled every hesitation I was feeling about the Peace Corps. And not only that, but it was with a Christian organization. WELL HELLO GOD, I SEE YOU.
God stepped in and opened up an opportunity I could never even dream of. There was no way I wasn’t going to do it. I started talking about it and heard “oh wow, that’s going to be a lot of work” and “you need to raise a lot of money.” I thought, well if other people have done it, why can’t I be one of them. God can do anything. When you open your mind up and realize that God can do things beyond our wildest dreams, you will be amazed what happens to your life. What you focus on is what will happen. Just have faith in Him.
When I told my Mom about the World Race, she started going on about the diseases I could get and everything that could go wrong. I joked with her and said, “you’re right I’ll just live in a box instead.” I understand her concern, and a lot of it is valid, but I’m not worried. God will take care of me. I would rather live outside of my comfort zone for Christ than comfortably within the limits of my home. There is so much for us to see, so much to be done, so much life to live. And I am so ready to live it, all in the name of the Lord. Being comfortable is dangerous, and God never calls us to be comfortable.
