At launch, I decided to make a list of my hopes for the World Race, and then last week, our squad mentor, Megan, did a teaching on expectations, and we answered some questions about our expectations for the next 9 months. I wanted to share with y’all why I am here on this journey, and where I hope to be by the end!
WHY AM I HERE?
I am here because I originally felt called to do something more than go straight to college (there is more on this topic on my very first blog post). On a deeper level, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary, take a leap of faith, and change my life. The thing out of all those reasons that sticks out to me is take a leap of faith. If you know me, I am a planner. I do things that are organized, I make a plan, and they are usually certain. And while it is important to trust God to provide and comfort during all the times of your life, I was living a life that allowed me to be pretty dependent on myself and not on God. I always acknowledged God and had a relationship with him, but I often turned to myself and friends to accomplish things, not my trust in God. Deciding to do the World Race is the biggest leap of faith that I have ever taken, because things are not certain. I cannot plan, and I cannot do any of it on my own.
WHAT AM I HOPING FOR OVER THE NEXT 9 MONTHS? (many things, but here are the 3 main broad statements that I came up with)
- That God will make his lessons clear to me.
This is a very general statement, but it is something I am praying hard for. I am on this trip to grow and learn things- about myself, humans, God, and the world. So more than anything, I want God to make the things he wants me to learn apparent. I want to have stories to tell my family and blog about. I hope to come out of the Race with more wisdom than I started; wisdom that I can pinpoint and be able to apply to life in America, starting college and adult life.
- To become more focused on relationships than my checklist.
As I mentioned above, I find myself mentally planning a lot of things out, and making physical lists. There is absolutely nothing wrong with planning ahead, but it can become unhealthy when it overwhelms your mind and is all that you think about. I find that sometimes being the case for me. Even in my first couple weeks on the Race, I see myself with a checklist of things to do (college apps, emailing people, scholarship apps), and I literally cannot do them because of internet and time limitations. This is an interesting place for me to be in because at home, I am always rushing to get everything done that I “need” to do. My hope during these 9 months is to trust that everything will get done in its timing, and I can focus more of my energy on people and building relationships with them. And in times when I have Wi-Fi, I pray that I can balance communicating with family and friends, and doing the practical things.
- To trust God.
This is also a very general statement, and is quite self-explanatory. I hope to become someone who does not live in fear of the future, and trusts God’s plan. It sounds quite simple- I need to rely on God more than myself- but it can be a lot harder to actually do it.
Towards the end of the Race, I will hopefully do a blog post following up on this one. I can include how God moved in the list of things that I am hoping for, and also the unexpected things that I grew in.
