How I was called to the WR

And we know that in all
things God works for the good of those who love him.  Rom 8:28

 

That verse explains how I could go from college, to 4+ yrs in the corporate world, to the World Race.   Here are the details…

 After graduating, I went to work for one of the largest and most competitive Medical Device companies in the world. Though at that time I didn’t know of their reputation.  I took an entry level sales support job and soon found quick success in that role.  About once a year I was receiving significant promotions and taking on increasingly more challenging positions.  Most of the time I felt under qualified, so despite my strong work ethic, I have to believe God had something to do with these promotions. 

About a year and half ago, the big promotion came through and I was relocated from LA to San Diego.  What a blessing to have been sent to such a beautiful city and still so close to my family in LA.  A little more than a year after move to SD, I was becoming less and less enthralled by my job and had a inner gut feeling that this wasn’t the right fit for me.  Around November of 2009, I heard a message about living extraordinarily for God and being filling with His power.  I asked the Lord at that time what I needed to do in order to live this way as I had been feeling empty.  God’s response was to give up my job.  Even though things were challenging at that time, I fought this idea…no gives up their job in this economy, what will I do next, I never give up on anything, what will people think of a seemingly stupid decision that like?  All those thoughts ran through my mind… and after about a month, it was pretty clear that it was really the right thing to do for my life and I just needed to trust God with what the next plans were for my life. 

So about 3 weeks ago I officially quit what I thought was the “dream job”… little did I know that God had bigger and better plans. during this whole decision making process, I had run into an old college friend that I hadn’t seen in at least 4 yrs on the Amtrak train from SD to LA. She had just gotten back from the WR and was moving to SD.  This was the first time I had ever heard of the WR, but didn’t think much of it at that time.  I know now that running into her wasn’t just a coincidence but a God meeting.  Then about a month later, right before Christmas, I was at a worship night at my church in SD and they were praying for a girl who was leaving on an 11 month mission on Jan 1.    I pulled her aside afterwards and asked about it, go figure… it was the WR too.    So never heard about it before, then 2 times within a month while I was thinking of quitting my job. God had my attention now.   I did some research and found out that the WR encompasses all things I love in life: traveling, experiencing new cultures, helping others less fortunate and loving on those who need it the most.

 

Sometimes I wonder if God used this job to bring me to SD so that I could learn of the WR, and if He used this job to teach me new skills (leadership, public speaking, art of persuasion, etc) that I could use to further His Kingdom on the WR and beyond.

 

So here I am Lord, ready and willing to be used.  I don’t know if this trip will lead me to other similar quests, or if this will just be 11 amazing months that the Lord has carved out for me, but I’m quite sure I will not return the same as when I left and that is exciting enough!  I can’t wait to start making an impact in these 11 countries!