So several months ago I felt God calling me. I felt Him calling me out to an adventure, somewhere He could show me who I really am and truly work in me. Somewhere with room to breathe. At that time I thought that perhaps God was calling me to hike. With that thought in my mind I started planning a year long hike up the Eastern side of the U.S. However, something felt slightly off. I wasn’t exactly sure, but I figured that I was just anxious about everything involved in planning and carrying out the hike. However, that was not the case.
A couple months after I had started thinking about, and planning, this hike I was talking to a friend, and they mentioned the World Race. I had heard about it before, but I hadn’t even thought about it until that moment. Suddenly something in my heart told that that was it. That was what God was calling me to. I wasn’t wrong that God was calling me to do something extreme to stretch me and help me grow, I was just misinterpreting what that exact something was.
So, what is it exactly that I’m doing? Well, the World Race is an 11 month mission trip. I will be going to 11 different countries in those 11 months. I will also be traveling with a group of people who will essentially be my family for those 11 months. We will be living out of hiking backpacks, we will be stretched and tested, but we will undoubtedly see God at work.
This will without a doubt be tough. I know I will struggle. I will be tested. I will be forced to grow, and that is what I desire. I am not going on this trip as some sort of mission trip vacation, and that is not God’s purpose for calling me to this. I believe that He is calling me out of my comfort zone so that He can grow me in ways that are not possible if I remain at home. While I’m somewhat anxious about what this trip holds I am also ecstatic that I will get to participate in something so amazing.
Already God is stretching me and forcing me to grow. Fundraising and asking for money has always been hard for me. However, God is forcing me to be bold, and He is calling me to trust in His provision. I am confident that when I arrive home at the end of the trip I will not be the same person as when I left, I believe that I will be living out of the identity God has given me.
