I am tired, but I cannot fall asleep.
So I am laying on my bed, listening to the Avett Brothers, knowing that 5:30 AM is going to come way too early.
I am kept awake tonight by this surreal thought.
This crazy realization that this… this is really about to happen.
It's kind of a funny story, how I got here.
To this place in my life where I'm called to sacrifice.
To risk and trust.
To go.
A story, which will probably take eleven months to tell.
Scratch that. This is going to take a lifetime.
Maybe it started in Lexington's Phoenix Park, where there's a large congregation of homeless men every Friday night.
Or on Second Street – where a six year old boy threw himself into my arms.
Maybe it started in my favorite coffee shop when I began the process of unpacking "grace".
Or in church one Sunday morning, when I fell hopelessly in love with the resurrected Christ.
This story may have started when I was a little girl. I was painfully shy. I hated being outside. And I had this plan: own a coffee shop and sit in overstuffed chairs and write about the adventures of missionaries overseas. It was a good plan. I'd eat blueberry muffins and use really good words. A seemingly flawless plan.
But it probably all really started when I was driving to work about eighteen months ago.
And I heard God tell me to get my passport.
Race has always been my word.
To a girl who was born with a 70% lung capacity – the word "run" holds a deeper meaning and challenge for me than for most. I have spent the last two years training… just so I could breathe.
For the past eighteen months I've been asking for open eyes and ears.
For courage. To take this life one step at a time.
Trusting in the Father's plan for my life – familiarizing myself with His voice.
I'm a real simple girl. With lots of words. And I'm still pretty shy – but I've learned how to move beyond that.
Today, I cherish community almost more than anything. These days there's nowhere else I'd rather be than out in nature. In the sun and wind. On the top of a mountain or sleeping under the stars. I like getting really dirty.
I still like sitting in overstuffed chairs.
It's kind of a funny story: how God interrupts your life.
When you learn to listen for His voice, when you learn to walk in His shadow, when you reach out to grab His hand, how He will lead you on a journey unlike any you could have ever come up with on your own.
And He will give you reason to boast – about His faithfulness and His creativity and His sense of humor.
"Come", He's saying. "Come love on the world with me."
