Something happened almost a month ago that turned my world upside down. I have been putting off writing this blog because it was just too soon and I was still trying to process what had happened. But I am finally ready to fill you in on what has happened to my World Race plans in the past month.
I was scheduled to leave with my squad for Romania July 11. I received a phone call from one of the heads of the World Race Department three days before I was supposed to leave. She called because I was about $1100 short of the minimum amount of support required to launch with the rest of my squad. She had been a support coach for six squads and said that, in the past, when they have sent World Racers onto the field when they were at where I was with support, they usually continued to struggle raising support while on the field. She said that those people, oftentimes, had to take a week off of ministry while on the field so they could focus solely on raising support. And they even had to send someone home once because she could not get the support she needed to remain on the field. I still did not understand because I believed so strongly that the Lord was leading me to go on this route that was going to leave in three days. I was sure that the Lord was going to pull off an amazing miracle in the last week before I left where He would bring in the support I needed. I told this to the woman at the World Race headquarters, and I asked what she thought would be best. She highly recommended me to defer to the next open World Race route, which would be in January or next July. She told me that all the support that I've already raised will transfer over to my new route, however, they would have to deduct the amount of the plane ticket to Romania that they had already bought for me. Trusting her advise was in my best interest, I agreed to defer to a different route.
I was devastated when I got off the phone with her and so confused. I also felt afraid and ashamed. I spent the next two hours crying out to God, seeking clarity, direction, and guidance. I had no clue what to do (besides continuing to cling to God)! I spoke to a couple trusted women in my life that night, Staci and Rachel, who reminded me that we serve a big God who can do anything and He could still bring in the money necessary for me to go in the next couple days. The Lord blessed me with an unexplainable bit of peace by the end of that night.
The next day, I talked to my dear friend Carley, who encouraged me with the Truth that God is good, no matter what happens and that He has a good purpose in everything He does. I was able to acknowledge that God was good even in the sudden change of my plans, but I was still upset about it. I drove to Milwaukee that day to drop off my team's water filter that I was responsible for carrying with another girl on the squad. As I was driving, the Lord helped me to start deeply believing that changing to a different World Race route would be better than leaving in two days for the route I'd originally planned to go on.
I am in awe of the amazing peace that the Lord gave me in such a short amount of time, and He has continued to cover me with peace about this sudden change of my plans. I had been running toward getting ready for the Race with everything in me for the previous weeks and months and spent a lot of my hard-earned money on equipment, vaccinations, the plane tickets to and from training camp, etc, for the Race.
But here is the Truth that the Lord has really been pressing on my heart these past few weeks: HE IS GOOD!! God knows what is best, and He has a good reason for leading me toward this July Race without providing the support needed to actually go. I see the Training Camp I went to in May for the World Race as unbelievably timely and of huge importance in my life. Also I started talking to the girlfriend of one of the men who would have been on my squad. She lives in northern Illinois, and we are planning to meet up tomorrow. Her name is Sarah, and I am really looking forward to getting together and encouraging one another as sisters in Christ. She has already been a blessing and encouragement in my life, and I would have never met her had I not been planning to leave on the same World Race route as her boyfriend.
The Lord has shown me many ways that He will bless me in the extra six months that I now have before I leave the United States. Most obviously, I will have more time to raise support, and when I actually do get onto the field I will be much more able to focus on ministry. I am hoping that I will have the full $15,500 raised by the time I leave. Also, if I had left in July, I would have had very little money in my bank account. Now, I will have more time to earn some more money so that if I get sick or injured while on the Race, I will be able to pay for the medical bills if the international insurance doesn't kick in right away.
Now, I will have more time to do a heart check before I leave and make sure I have a heart that's closer to God's when I go out. I was talking to my sweet friend Kimberly the night before I got the call from the woman from the World Race department, and I was totally freaking out as I expressed how insanely stressed and anxious I was about all the things I needed to do before I left in a few days. She could testify that I was in no way prepared to leave (not financially, emotionally, mentally, nor spiritually). I needed a miracle…and I'm starting to believe the postponing of my departure was that miracle. God just gave me a different kind of miracle than I was expecting. And I now see that the miracle He gave me is a better one than what I was expecting.
I now will be able to spend more time with my family and friends I before I leave. I feel so blessed to have five more months with them!
I also was rehired at the best place I've ever worked. It's a drive-in restaurant called Chester's. I've worked there as a carhop (waitress) during summers since I was in high school, and I absolutely love working there. I am SO thankful that the Lord has opened the opportunity to work there again.
I am now scheduled to leave in January. This January route still will take me to Ukraine, Romania, Kenya, Uganda, Thailand, and Cambodia. But now, I will also be going to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Tanzania, and Malaysia.
I still feel heartbroken every now and then that I'm not out there right now with my team, but I am looking forward to all that the Lord has in store for me in the five months that I have left in the United States.
