I’ve been in the running to attend the World Race for almost four years now. You might ask, “Didn’t you just apply a few months ago?” well, yeah. However God has been calling me to go for years and I’ve finally decided to listen.
The first sign:
Four years ago I was attending community college, living at home and working at my favorite local pizza joint. One day while I was waiting tables a guy (of course I forget his name) and his father came in and asked to see my boss to set up a fundraiser. I started talking to them about what it was for and they told about a mission trip called the World Race. I took his card and wished him luck as they went. I went home that night I took out the card and searched this World Race. As I watched the video on the webpage I started to feel joy, excitement, even got goose bumps. I’m sure you could have heard my heart break when I read that you had to be 21, because I was only 18.
As time went on I kept this trip in the back of my mind, secretly always going back to watch that video (I’ve seen it at least a 100 times). I wasn’t sure why because how could someone like me actually get the opportunity to travel the world in such an amazing way?
The second:
The next year I started attending Salisbury University. The fall semester was one of the toughest times in my life. I gave up hope of everything I knew and had an enormous amount of evils in my life. I’m not sure what day it was that winter but I woke up, got in the shower sobbing and started to scream at God “Why would you give me this life.” as if he spoke to me saying “This isn’t it, it will get better, I have plans for you.” the conversation ended with me saying “Fine. Send me. Use me. I am yours but I cannot live like this. Show me more father. You have to show me more.” Little did I know what I was getting myself into.
I started getting my life on track in the Spring and one of my classmates asked me to go to Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ) so I agreed. That night there was a speaker there to present. *Really feeling bad for forgetting names right now* She had just been on the World Race. I stayed after to speak with her and the trip proved itself to be ideal for me. I walked back to my apartment and started laughing, thinking to God “You really wanted to show me in a big way huh.” Out of all the meetings I could have attended, he sent me to this one.
The third:
Not an actual event but still a key factor. The next year I kept telling everyone I knew about it. I would show them that video, tell them which places I would love to go. Some people told me they have friends who went and loved it. Others told me to go, that they could see me doing this. Some people told me that raising that much money was unrealistic and I needed to focus on other priorities. The trip just stayed in my mind, popping up when I hadn’t thought about it in awhile.
The fourth:
This past summer. A summer I wish never happened. A summer I have to live with the rest of my life. A summer where life proved to be a case of “why do bad things happen to good people.” So for now I’ll leave it at that. One day towards the end of summer I was on Pinterest and saw a quote “Be still.” I clicked on it and it read to be Psalm 46:10 (although I’m not sure which version of the bible this came from) it read “Maybe you have been worried for a long time or stressed because a dream hasn’t come to pass or upset over a challenge you’re dealing with. Just like God met Adam at a place of peace, God is saying, “There may be trouble all around, but I am calling you to a place of peace. Be still and know that I am God. Come to Me, and I will give you wisdom, strength and grace for everything you face.”” So I went to God for everything that was happening in my life. I knew I had to finally listen to what hes been planning for me, a week later I applied for the race.
So, four years in the running to go on the World Race. I didn’t know back then that God had placed me in the running and I still couldn’t tell you why. I’ve learned that when God calls you to do something you have to listen. If at first you don’t hear its okay, he obviously knows how to keep telling you. He’s funny in that way. So now I’ve been picked. Selected by our father to go out in the world to be his disciple. I’m not sure what it all means but there has to be something worth wild if he’s had this plan for me all along.
