Okay, so I actually wrote this post for Facebook a couple weeks ago but it’s pretty much my story of how I came around to applying for the WR and why….so I didn’t really edit it much, but the 2 months that its talking about is April/May 2015….so there you go…
So for the past 2 months give or take, I’ve been reading the book of Jeremiah as my daily devotion. Now lets be honest here, where I first started I was looking for a particular versus…Jeremiah 29:11 to be exact where it talks about him knowing the plans he have for us….
However, I decided I didn’t want to just jump into that versus, read it and leave. I had realized when looking for it that I had never taken the time to read Jeremiah before and I wanted so I decided to read it. When I first mentioned that I was reading it at a women’s group I’m involved in, someone asked if I was also gonna read a more up-lifting book while I read Jeremiah, and I thought about it and I said no. I felt like God wanted me to read Jeremiah and focus on what I could learn about Him and his plans for me in that book for now. And with the exception of one or two days where I really just needed something more up-lifting, I stuck to that.
So that’s what I did. I sat outside of work one day about two months ago and read through chapter one. Didn’t get much out of it…waited about a week and started again. This time, it just felt like God was speaking to me. I knew that I was on the right path. So I continued to read it. Each and every day I’d wake up a couple of hours early before for work, get showered, dressed for work, and curl up with my blanket in my chair, with the heater o and the Bible in my lap, and started reading. Some day’s just one chapter, someday half a chapter, some days like today three chapters or more. It never seemed to matter how much I read, I always got something out if, even if it was just Him reminding me to stay faithful in spending time with Him.
About four weeks ago, I was realizing that you know, God never leaves. It doesn’t matter how bad the people of Jeremiah screwed up God was always there. Yes sometimes he was disciplining them Chp. 30, and sometimes he was just reminding them that he had a plan and that he knew us before we were born (1:5) but he was always there for them. So with that in mind it made me realize that no matter what I do, whether I stay here in LG working at Taco Time for the rest of my life, or I step out in faith and go overseas for missions he’d be there for me. As the military would say, He’s got my Six…God always has my back. So taking that in mind, I took a deep breath, said a long prayer, and decided that I needed to do what he’d been telling me for a while and step out on faith and put in an application for a year long mission trip with Adventures in Missions for their mission trip The World Race (WR). So I did. I turned in my app, did my online interview (more questions to answer in 300 words or less) and made sure my references knew I’d put them down, said a little prayer and just left it at that. I got an email a few weeks later saying that they wanted to do a follow-up phone call about my application, talked to them on Thursday 5/14/15, said a little prayer and early the next morning as I was walking into work on 5/15/2015 I got a call saying I’d been accepted. I turned in my$150 deposit yesterday, 5/18/215. So now here I am on a journey of a lifetime, that would never have been possible without me stepping out in faith and reading Jeremiah, and following what I felt God was telling me to do. Yes, there is so much more I learned from the book of Jeremiah then just God having my back all the time, but at this moment in time, all I can think about is how it set me in motion for the next stage of my life.
As I transition from college (Graduate 6/13/15) to this next stage of my life, the next six months are going to be hectic. Between raising funds, renewing passport, getting shots and gear, and just trying to organize things for while I’m gone, and still doing my everyday responsibilities, such as work and youth group, life is gonna be hectic but great. The number one thing I have to do is remember God’s always got my six. He’s always got my back.
As I move forward into this next stage of life there will be things you can do to help me, but the number one thing I need right now is PRAYER. Prayer that I keep God at the center of my life, that funding will come through, that everything will fall into place. Prayer that I will be open to change and growth, prayer for my future team-members and squad. Prayer for the opening of hearts of the people we will be meeting along the way and sharing the gospel to.
