As you all know, I’ll be leaving in July on the World Race. God has already provided enough funds for my first financial deadline (not due until April) and I’m confident he will provide the rest of the funds.
I remember when I was thinking about applying for the race. $16,285 is a LOT of money. I knew from the get go that the money was going to have to come straight from God. It has and it will keep on coming! I’m confident in that.
What I kind of overlooked was all the extra expenses there would be.
-Plane tickets to and from training camp
-Plane ticket to the launch site
-A whole long list of gear that the WR team sent us (none of it ridiculously cheap might I add)
-Vaccination costs (Malaria medication, Yellow fever something or other, probably Typhloid)
-Spending Money
-6 months of my cell phone bill? (maybe I’ll get that one postponed with Verizon..hopefully)
After I was accepted I came up with a plan. God will do his part and provide my funds and I will do my part and provide the extra money! It couldn’t be that hard, right?
Wrong.
So…so…wrong.
I originally decided to save ALL my semesters babysitting money so that I could buy gear over Christmas break. Let me tell ya, for those who know me and know how hard it is for me NOT to spend money…I did a fairly good job! But sadly it’s not nearly enough for the things I was planning on getting.
So what was my plan B? Save all your money from NEXT semesters babysitting jobs! Surely that will put you right where you need to be!
But God had a different plan.
Stop trying so hard and let me provide for you. I want to bless you. I want to show you how much I support you. I know it’s hard for you to trust me, but the more you practice the better you’ll become. Start by letting ME provide for your needs.
How did I respond?
Okay God, you can provide for me but…I’m going to work my butt of just in case you don’t come through.
Homeboy didn’t like that response too much I guess.
What happened next? Well, I got my student teaching assignment, that’s what. It wasn’t at the school I wanted to be at. It took away the only job I was planning on having next semester. Oh, and did I mention it’s a 15 minute drive (for the small town of Shawnee, that’s a long drive) just to get there making my gas prices double every week. Also I won’t have money to pay my cell phone bill, car insurance, gas, or groceries.
Fortunately for me, God has blessed me with wonderful parents that he is also blessing on a daily basis. Even though I hate asking them for money, they’re going to be able to keep me afloat during the next semester. TYG! But that still left zero opportunities to save for the extra costs of the World Race.
God didn’t do this to be mean. He did it because He knows, and I know, that a lot of times I need to be forced to trust in him. It’s a problem. I’m working on it. He’s working on me too.
So what does that mean?!
It means all my plans are shot and it’s all in God’s hands.
Why? Because I have no choice. Because God wants me to practice trusting him.
And I’m thankful God forces me to hand the reigns to him.
So now what? Am I just going to blow the money I earn because God has it in control?
No! I’m still called to be a good steward of my money. I’m still going to work and babysit and house sit. But I know I can’t do a thing. It’s all going to have to come from God.
So I decided to make a wish list.
*Side note: I love making lists. I’ve already made a packing list on excel and color coded it into categories like electronics, gear, clothing, toiletries. Then I broke up the list into months that I need/want to buy them. I love organizing..that’s all*
In my wish list I included 12 things that I need to buy. Some of these things are straight from the WR packing list, some are from past racers suggestions, and some are from the lady I spoke with at the backwoods store a few weeks ago. There are other things I need to buy, but people have already graciously told me that they will pay for specific gear I’ll need!
Here’s the link to my wish list
http://www.rei.com/WishlistView?id=e7919f7b-7c88-4b41-8ff5-38c7a5df1eed
If you feel led to buy anything from this list for me let me know what you would like to buy so I can remove it from the list.
If you have any questions about the objects on the list, feel free to message me by clicking the “contact me” button on the side of my blog page.
If you’d rather just donate money towards my World Race account, I’d really appreciate that too! You can click “support me” on the side of my blog page and fill in your information.
If you lasted this long through the blog, bless you! Thank-You for reading and Thank-You for all your support, encouragement, and prayers as I’m preparing for the next phase of my life!
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UPDATE!
I have purchased so much off of my list and have had so many things given to me since I posted this blog! I only have a few more items left on my list until I’m done!!! Here’s the link to the updated list!
http://www.rei.com/WishlistView?id=e7919f7b-7c88-4b41-8ff5-38c7a5df1eed
Thanks again everyone!
