The day before my birthday, Brandi asked me, “Chels, if you could have anything in the world tomorrow, what would it be?” Contemplating this question, I finally answered, “Well it isn’t something tangible, but I really want the Lord to give me a passion. A passion that will drive the rest of my life. It doesn’t have to be a career; I just want to be able to say that I was created on this earth for this one reason. I just don’t know what that reason is. But I want to.”
So my squadmates prayed that I would receive a passion and calling on my life. And the next morning, I asked the Lord myself.
A prayer from my journal on June 23rd, 2018:
Lord,
I’m gonna ask you to give me that one calling. That one passion. Whether that be a career or just a decision maker to help choose a job. Lord, all I want with my entire life is to know you and to make you known. I just want to do your will. So Jesus, what do you want from me? What do you want me to focus on in my life? What can I do exceptionally well to spread Your Kingdom? I love you, Lord, with all my heart.
Your daughter,
Chelsea
From that morning on, I started dreaming with Jesus about my passion. It was an almost instantaneous answer as Him and I spent many hours on a bus, many hours of down time just dreaming and thinking about what we can do. You know what He told me my passion was? My passion is to see people, specifically young people, come to Christ.
The conversation surrounding that passion immediately sparked fear. As I was asking the Lord what I could do with that passion, I was hoping He would say, “Chelsea, go back and work in youth ministry at a church” or “Chelsea, why don’t you find a job where you can use your math degree and then be a YoungLife leader on the side.” Y’all, He didn’t say those things at all. I was hoping He would, but I knew that He was asking me to do something else.
Journal entry on June 24th, 2018:
Gosh, I’m really nervous that it [my passion] means going back to teach. I’m nervous it means facing that fear that I’ve spent a whole year trying to avoid. But, if that’s what that means, then so be it. I will walk with the Lord every single step of the way. Because He is the way. I will go in there completely immersing that place in prayer. I want to win hearts for the Lord. That’s all!
So Jesus, if that is what you want me to do, will you spark that desire again? Will you give me a craving for the classroom? Will you burn all the fears I have ever had about teaching? Lord, I don’t want to fear teaching, I just want to fear not doing your will.
His answer: “The best way that you, Chelsea Elizabeth, can see young people come to me is to get back in the classroom to teach. I will give you a desire for the classroom. Don’t fear what I want to bless you with.”
So I have a dream. Well, I should actually say that we (Jesus and I) have a dream. It’s OUR dream because I refuse to teach without Jesus. We are going to go into the classroom together to love students. We are going to show them their worth. We are going to be prayer warriors for them. We are going to teach them math and to help them value their own education. We will be there to challenge them to be better versions of themselves, in and out of the classroom.
I may not be able to openly speak about Jesus in the classroom, but I certainly can invite Him to be there. And to that, He gladly promised that He would be.
Now you may be wondering, “Chels, what does that look like when you get home? Will you teach right away? Where are you going to teach?”
The simple answer is that I don’t know.
And honestly, I’m not in a hurry. The Lord will reveal those details when the time is right. Until then, I’ll wait in His presence cause it’s my favorite place to be.
