Hey there!
In my last blog post, I briefly touched on why I’m going on the World Race, but I want to go into some specific details for you this time(:
First, I just want to say that this isn’t just a vacation I’m going on for nine months. I’m going with a mission in mind and a heart ready to receive all that the Lord wants to do in my life and in the lives of the people I encounter. Whether that be my squadmates (SHOUTOUT SQUAD A, I love you guys so much already), or the countless people I will meet along the way.
So…. *Vulnerability Time*
Here’s a peak at my heart and all that the Lord has been doing in my life.
When I surrendered my life to the Lord, meaning when I chose to follow Him and make Him first priority in my life, everything changed. All for the better, of course. My wants, needs, and desires changed. The more I pursued Him, trusted in Him, and learned who HE is, the more I discovered my own identity found in Him. His plans and desires for my life became my plans and desires for my life. I learned the Lord has the absolute best in store for His children, and He wants to bless us and shower us in His love. Every day is a new day, and His love for us is new every single day.
Pretty much, all that to say, God is fulfilling all my hearts desires and so much more. For example, my desire to travel the world is met and exceeded in this calling. My curiosity about other cultures around the world is paired with the ability to learn and learn and to keep on learning from the people in the communities of the three countries I get to travel to. My love for loving on people, and especially children, is matched in this amazing opportunity to serve many different people in any capacity. I want others to know the love the Lord has for them, the way He has shown me His love.
When I was 12 years old, the Lord called me to missions, but I didn’t quite know what that was going to look like. I knew I was called to love on the people in my reach and “be Jesus” to those who don’t know Him. So, over the years that is what I’ve tried to do: love others the way Jesus does. I’ve messed up along the way, but that’s just the way life is sometimes. We mess up and make mistakes and don’t always make the “right” choices. BUT GOD is gracious and loving, and when we turn from our mistakes and ask for forgiveness, He forgives us without hesitation. And that’s how my life has gone thus far: choosing to obey Him, messing up, repenting and asking for forgiveness, and then moving forward in my walk with Him.
When I was 14 years old, I wrote a letter to my future self. Now, don’t make fun of my handwriting or my grammar usage or my tough love enthusiasm… I was in 8th grade for crying out loud. Here it is…
This is a little silly, but that’s just my personality shining through. I believe that this letter was not an accident or just a coincidence. God was speaking to me through my younger self for this moment now. The moment when He’s called me to take a gap year to go on the World Race.
So, I want to go out of obedience to the Lord. This is the next step/chapter/journey that He has called me to. It will be challenging and uncomfortable and hard, but at the same time the reward is far far greater. He is going to change my life and so many others’. Lost people will be found, hearts will be healed, the blind will see, and the broken will be made whole. He is going to do a radical work, and I am just beyond blessed to be a part of it.
Thank you for reading! Thank you for choosing to be a part of what the Lord is doing. I ask that you keep my team and me in your prayers as we are still preparing to launch! I cannot stress that enough. Prayer is so so powerful and we will need lots of it.
That’s it for now. I hope you have a super duper grand day!
Arielle(:
