Long story short, I didn’t, but here’s how it really happened…
A few weeks ago, I was feeling really discouraged about fundraising. I overcommitted myself this summer and didn’t have the time to thoroughly pursue the fundraisers I had in mind. I felt like everything I was planning would not be good enough or would fail. These feelings kept me from doing anything fundraising related for several weeks leading to more feelings of failure and discouragement. Through slowing down and spending more time with the Lord, He reassured me that this is not about me and my [lack of] super-duper fundraising abilities.
He chose this journey for me. He called me here. The burden of orchestrating all the details falls on HIM. If I am trying to succeed without Him, it is in vain. While I have been spending so much energy worrying about how my efforts will turn out, He has been waiting for me to give up control and come to Him for help. That’s what I did when I posted my “donate $11 on August 11th” plea on social media. I saw other World Racers post similar things in previous months, but had never put one together myself. It’s a simple concept that I had been overthinking. I needed the ideal graphic, the perfect wording, the optimal time to post it in order to count on it being a success. That’s before I placed the outcome back into the hands of my most powerful Friend.
I spent 13 hours of August 11th at work. It was a long day without any spare time. On the way home from work I told the Lord that I would make a post and He would need to take care of the rest. I prayed that this fundraiser would help me reach my first financial goal of $5,000 which I needed about $1,500 to do. I got home after 8pm and threw together a post before going to bed. I was surprised how many people responded that they would participate. I received a few gifts throughout the week and the following Saturday tallied up my funds up to this point. I was about five hundred dollars away from my first $5,000 goal.
Sunday morning, I was back at church after being away several weeks due to work and traveling out of town. It felt so good to be home and among the people who have been supporting me my entire life. Before and after the service I spent time catching up with folks when seven different people came up to me and handed me cash or envelopes for my World Race fund. Some were prompted by the “$11 on the 11th” fundraiser and others just felt led to give. I shared my testimony about how the Lord led me to the World Race and more details about the mission trip in the Sunday evening service. Between the gifts given to me in the morning and the love offering taken in the evening, the Lord provided over $1,000 that day which put me well above the September deadline.
Looking back, it’s easy to see this achievement wasn’t because of my abilities at all. I didn’t follow some special formula for successful social media marketing or speak at a megachurch to thousands of people. I asked the Lord for help, made a quick Facebook post and trusted Him with the results. I expressed what was on my heart to 30 or so people in my home church on a Sunday night sharing with them the relief of surrender. You can clearly see the willingness was mine, but the outcome was on Him. When I try to own the outcome, I become stressed, discouraged and worn out. By placing the results in His hands, I am relieved of the burden of success. My prayer is this… “Here I am, Lord, willing to work, willing to do what you ask, willing to go. I will work, do, and go, but I trust you with the outcome.”
He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. I Thessalonians 5:24
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