I’m going on the World Race Gap Year!?!?
I am simply in awe as I sit here and ponder what I want to write in my very first blog post. Three months ago I thought I knew exactly where I would be next year. I have been researching, touring, and preparing for college since my sophomore year of high school and it had always seemed like the obvious choice for me when I graduate. I had never given any thought to the idea of a gap year, or a missions trip at all. I had never dreamed about doing something so very far out of my comfort zone. But God had other plans.
About two months ago I was introduced to a little something called the World Race gap Year and everything began to change. At first I thought wow that’s really cool but I could never do that. But days and weeks passed and I could not get this mission trip out of my head. I found my self daydreaming about it every second of every day. I stopped researching colleges and would find myself back to the World Race home page every night, or reading another person’s blog. And I started to think maybe this was a feeling I shouldn’t be running from. There was something(more like Someone) pulling me towards this trip.
So I started to pray about it. I spent hours, nights, days trying to separate God’s voice from all the other voices of the world, all pulling me in different directions. I talked to my friends, parents, mentors, and siblings searching for an answer to a question only I knew the answer to. So after much deliberation, I took the leap of faith, I applied, and here I am!
In September I will be traveling to Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. There have been and will be so many moments of doubt, and unease. There have been moments where I have wondered why would God want me for this? I have read so many posts from people who have been planning to take this trip for their whole lives, people who have dedicated every summer to going on mission trips. And I took a look at myself, having never dipped my foot into missions, having never even left the country and wondered if God had made a mistake. But I find comfort in knowing that God never makes mistakes. He has had a plan for my life long before I was even created and He knows exactly what He is doing.
Right now there is so much unknown to me, and normally this would be such a source of anxiety but I am choosing to lay my worry down at His feet and follow the path He is paving for me. I am beyond excited for what ever the future may hold for this crazy, unpredictable life.
Love,
Alyssa Clark
