Friends! I’ve never written a blog before, let alone had my own personal blogging website (nbd nbd), so here goes nothing.
Hey hey! My name is Alyssa (but my friends call me Lyss). I’m a total photography fanatic, love anything that involves paint & wood, and would kill to curl up in my bed with a good book. Loving Jesus has kind of been a part of my life ever since I was a little girl, but I didn’t start pursuing a relationship with the Lord until the summer of my sophomore year of high school. I’d like to say that it’s been a smooth ride since then, but then I would be lying (and nobody likes a liar, right?) Following God is by far the hardest, yet most life giving & fulfilling choice I’ve ever made. Heck, it’s the best choice that I’ve ever made. I wouldn’t be anywhere close to the person I am today without the redemptive and merciful work of Jesus in my life.
Now that we’re officially bffs, let me tell you how I got to this crazy journey called the World Race Gap Year. I can’t remember exactly when I got the idea of going into international missions someday, but it was sometime around my early years of high school. My parents were both super passionate about supporting non-profit organizations like the International Justice Mission (IJM) & the A21 Campaign. Soon enough, I also became passionate about these kinds of organizations and wanted to do whatever I could to support them.
As time progressed, I pretty much wrote all of my school essays and research papers about missionaries, human trafficking, and poverty in third-world countries. I’ve always wanted to make a difference in the world, and be a light for the Lord, and I finally had found my passion. But just talking about ending injustices wasn’t enough for me anymore; that’s partially why I decided to do the Race.
By the grace and will of God, when the opportunity to do the WR Gap Year came around, (long story short) I decided to apply. Little did I know what the Lord had in store for the next year and a half of my life.
When I got accepted, I decided a few days later that the Lord was calling me to take a leap (a HUGE leap) out of my comfort zone & go on the Race. Kudos to my parents for pushing and encouraging me to chase after my dreams, no matter how much it scared them.
When I got accepted, I hadn’t expecting to get a call as soon as I did, but when my phone rang I immediately knew who it was (but to be honest, I was half-expecting it to be a random call from Narnia or something). Anyways, after I got off of the phone with one of the World Race administrators, I got all the feels. Happy, sad, excited, nervous, overwhelmed, you name it. I even cried when I hung up the phone.
I had so many different questions racing through my mind:
What if I have to pee in a bucket for 9 months?
“alyssa…..”
What if I miss my family and friends too much?
“alyssa…”
What if something horrible happens while I’m gone?
“alyssa…!”
What if a rat crawls on my face while I’m asleep?
“ALYSSA!”
What if I get lice and have to shave all my hair off?
“ALYSSA… DAUGHTER… BELOVED. ARE YOU GOING TO LET ME BE ENOUGH FOR YOU?”
Wow, okay God. You win.
That got my attention super quickly. I hadn’t even realized that I was doubting God’s sovereignty when I was questioning anything and everything about the Race. The fact is, I had gotten so caught up in the “what ifs” that I had forgotten why I was even going on the Race in the first place; to make the name of the Lord known & to love his people. No matter what it takes, no matter how scared I get, no matter how doubtful I become, this isn’t about me. I am doing this to advance the Kingdom of God, not the kingdom of Alyssa.
Bear with me here, I’m almost done.
I was reading Through the Eyes of a Lion, by Levi Lusko (great book btw, you should definitely check it out), and something he said really stuck out to me.
“Heaven is like a roller coaster: you must be this tall to ride, but none of us measure up. Jesus came to pay our bills.”
It’s devastating to have the amusement park personnel grab their giant measuring stick of death & crush your 10-year-old dreams by telling you that you aren’t tall enough to go on the “big kid” ride. When I was thinking about this quote & how it relates to the Gospel, all of the sudden an image of Jesus kneeling down on His hands & knees came to mind. He humbled himself so that we would be tall enough (Philippians 2:7-8). He kneeled down on all fours so that we, as the kid who’s too short to ride the roller coaster, could stand on his back and become qualified. That’s the God that we serve. One who is willing to get down in the dirt to serve sinners like us, to let us know that we have purpose, to show us just how much we are loved. No amount of Heelys can make us tall enough to ride the ride (come on, you know you’ve done it). Only the power of Jesus can make us measure up.
So leave the land of “what ifs” and “not enoughs,” and run into the land that God offers; one of abundance, joy, and purpose.
Thank you thank you thank you for bearing with me! I cannot even begin to explain how much it means that you were willing to invest time in reading my story.
Much love,
Lyss
P.S. fundraising/prayer letters are coming soon, so stay tuned!
