Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21
This verse holds so much truth! Wow! We can make plans all we want, but when you are walking with the Lord those plans must rest in open hands, ready to be surrendered and replaced with His plan.
I have notice this to be quite the pattern in my life lately. I take time making these elaborate plans for certain seasons, and the Lord swoops in with a completely different plan, that is so much more amazing than I could have ever imagined. Although its not always easy to completely be willing to surrender my own desires, especially when, Gods plan, up front isn’t always fun, or enjoyable. But when you get to see the outcome, you are able to see that He knows and wants what is best for YOU individually, and it is beautiful.
I moved to Fort Collins this past fall. I started to get plugged in with CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ) in hopes of building solid community in a town where I knew no one. It was so great! I built community fast, and ended up attending a couple Cru conferences, in which the Lord continued laying on my heart to “GO”. I was confused, I had been on a couple short term missions, and knew the Lord had given me a heart for the nations, but now wasn’t the time for that. I had a plan, and that was to go to school, and buckle down for the next three years, and get my degree. So naturally I tried to push the idea aside and pursue my plan. God wasn’t having that, not only did He make it clear that I was going to go, but It seemed very clear that I was supposed to go on STINT (international internship with Cru). I started to realize that He wasn’t messing around, this is what I needed to do. I pressed into that, praying He would make it clear where I was supposed to go, because with STINT you can literally go anywhere in the world. Through some extensive time in prayer, I came to develop a pull towards Slovakia… “why Slovakia?” “Are you sure?” these are just a couple questions I brought before the Lord, daily. I quickly learned that we may never know why God is sending us in a certain direction. And that’s okay! We are called to obey and follow the call. So I applied. I began to research, become excited, and develop a heart for this country, that a couple months prior I couldn’t even point out on a map. I believed this was confirmation that I was walking in His plan.
Out of the blue I became emotionless. No more pull to go to Slovakia, no excitement, but not sad or upset about that, just a feeling of numbness. Confused I ran to Jesus begging for answers, and some sort of clarity. You guessed it! The Lord had something different in store. Our God is so powerful, not only can He take plans that I’ve made for myself and completely change them, but He has had a plan for me, in every step I went through with this journey of going. Even when I thought for sure I was going to be spending the next year in Slovakia. Y’all the Lord taking away all those feelings towards Slovakia was not because I couldn’t build the Kingdom in Slovakia, or because there is anything wrong with STINT, but rather because He desired to use me elsewhere. He used this journey to prepare my heart to be launched into the next step in His Plan.
Which brings us to the WORLD RACE!! Here is my heart behind “why”. I have loved the idea on the race since I was 15, when we had a family friend go on the race, and share with us her experience. As soon as I began to notice the door to Slovakia was closing, and I was processing what the Lord had in store, He brought the idea of going on the race back on my heart, big time. I remembered you must be 21, and turning 21 in July I applied for a route leaving in August. He came through and I was accepted! I couldn’t be more ecstatic for what He has in store for this next chapter of my life, and the way he is going to use our team to build the Kingdom, and use the people we are interacting with to grow each person on our team. We, as believers, are each called to GO (Matthew 28:19) for some that is to our place of employment, our schools, across the country, or to the nations. When you are resting in Gods plan, and at peace with whatever that may be, He will make it clear. It has definitely taken some time, and I will obviously still fail, nit being where i am now is beautifully freeing. The Lord is so good!
“What is the World Race?”
The World race is a program put on by a non-profit organization called Adventures in Missions, whose desire is to send those whom the Lord has called to go. The WR sends groups of adults on an 11 month long mission trip, building the Kingdom in 11 different countries (11n11). Spending one month in each country. The route I will be going on takes us to the following countries:
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Lesotho
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Swaziland
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South Africa
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Vietnam
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Jamaica
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Haiti
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Domincan Republic
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Cambodia
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Thailand
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Nicaraqua
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Costa Rica
Where do YOU come in?
God doesn’t call everyone to go, for long term, over seas. Maybe for you, you’ve never felt a desire or pull to go, but rather to send. In that case I would love to invite you to join my team. Building the Kingdom of God can not be done as an individual,we must build a team. There are a few different ways in which you can be a part of my team, one of which is through finances. In order to fulfill this call to the WR I have to raise $16,961. Not a small number but I strongly trust, and believe that the Lord will provide. There are a few ways you can donate 1. Click the link on my home page of this blog that says “Support Me”, 2. I will be sending out support letters in which you can mail in a check, if you would like a letter you can email me directly at [email protected], with your mailing information. 3. I will be selling tshirts, and also having fundraisers throughout the summer, follow me on facebook/this blog for further details. Prayer! Y’all I believe so strongly in the power of prayer! This trip can not happen without going to the Lord, and I would love to have a team on board, in prayer, with me throughout this journey! Some specific areas you can be in prayer for are as follows. I know the enemy uses things such as the race, and me feeling like I’m at a solid place in my faith, to attack. I have no doubt that in this next season the enemy is going to be coming at me in full swing so prayers against that would be greatly appreciate. Health is a huge thing as well, not only in the months leading up to launch, but also the 11 months that we are gone. Provision during this time of raising support. And preparation of my heart for training camp and the race. Lastly, Embark in my Journey, this is the first blog of many, and I would love for you to walk this road with me. You can do that by subscribing to my blog, and reading about all that the Lord is doing, and responding via comments or emails with any questions or any stories of what the Lord may be doing in your heart.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read a little about this next exciting chapter the Lord has placed before me. I so look forward to sharing the journey with y’all along the way.
