Sometimes things just get away from you. That is how I had been feeling about the World Race and other responsibilities and desires Cody and I have. As many people know, we keep busy with youth group, worship (Cody plays the bass guitar), Bible studies, work, and family. On top of all of this, I am competing in a weight-loss challenge. So, exercising has become a priority too. Lately, it just seems like too much and we don't seem to be getting anywhere. . . especially World Race preparation.
We were accepted to be a part of the WR in July, 2012. Ever since then, we have busied ourselves with planning and coordinating fundraisers. It has been very difficult, especially for me, because Cody works 10-12 hours 6 days a week. (Oh, the life of a farmer!) As you can guess, that leaves the responsibility of fundraising to me (because I don't work as much). YIKES! I'm not going to lie. . . it has been discouraging. I have cried about it so many times, sometimes even telling Cody that I'm not sure we are even supposed to do the Race. I just felt overwhelmed!!
On top of the WR stuff, we felt our youth ministry "slipping" a little. We just seemed to be going through the motions and weren't happy about it. We were "coming up short" with Bible reading and praying. Again, it seemed we were just going through the motions. I felt. . . Numb. Frustrated. Lost. Something needed to change.
About 6 weeks ago, we headed for church on a Wednesday night. There was nothing special about this Wednesday. After worship, we planned on doing our normal class with the youth. Despite my efforts, I felt unprepared. But I knew we could "wing" it. During worship, we sang the same types of songs we always do. I watched people wander in and find seats and thought about how tired I was and wondered if Sister Becky would "drag" on with worship tonight. But then everything changed. . . Even though nothing changed. The music was the same. The people were the same. But all of a sudden I had a huge sense of joy and peace. I felt like God was communicating with me, even though He wasn't saying a word. It was almost as if He had reached down and tapped my heart with his finger. Or breathed on me. All I knew was tonight was going to be a good night!
When we got back to the youth room I explained that I had tried to prepare for the lesson but just couldn't. I then said "God has something planned and we are just going to let Him do His thing." We agreed we should pray that God would take over the lesson and reveal to us what He wanted us to do. At that point, I felt the sudden urge to ask Cody to go get the annointing oil. Cody and I realized that God wanted us to annoint each girl individually and pray for them. It was very cool. We all ended up surrounding each other praying for each other, one at a time. It was a wonderful time of fellowship!
Fast-forward 4 weeks, and we are at church on another Wednesday evening. Different night, but same worship experience. Youth was normal, but I felt the Lord urging me to ask Cody to discuss the World Race and our other plans. I mentioned it to Cody on the way home. The next morning, God provided the time for us to have a wonderful conversation. We discussed how we felt that we were putting our current responsibilities to the Lord on the "back-burner" to the World Race. These responsibilities include our youth ministry, Bible reading, praying, and the conviction to start a young adult class for our church and Bible-study with our friends. We came to the conclusion that we were focusing and holding onto the WR to tightly instead of allowing the Lord to take care of it. We know that our God-given responsibilities are of vital importance and there is a season for everything. We needed to prioritize our priorities to the Lord. We decided that we needed to flip everything around putting the World Race on the "back-burner" to our current Kingdom responsibilities.
Since then, Cody and I have been spending more time in God's Word and praying. We have experienced a revival in our work with the youth and have begun a new Bible-study with the intention of starting one for young adults. We feel at peace with our account to the WR. We plan on doing a "little" fundraising, but are going to let go and let God be God. I, personally, have reveived confirmation through different people.
Please keep us in your prayers, as we continue to put our trust in our Father and what His will is for us. We are so thankful to the Lord for His faithfulness and to our supporters. Thank you for believing in this cause and allowing the Lord to use you to glorify Himself in our lives. . . because that is what life is all about. . .
Allowing the Father to be glorified in and through us and our circumstances!!
