Hello beautiful friends, Lalla-Rose here!! I hope you all are doing so wonderful at the time you are reading this! This is officially my FIRST blog post for The World Race and I couldn’t be more excited to share this journey with all of you wonderful people! I already have some things about me on my About Me page, so if you are interested you can always check that out! Some small little tidbits about me that aren’t on that page that I thought would be cool if I shared them here on my first blog post are:
I am an enneagram type 2w3, my favorite color is yellow, my favorite animal is an elephant (I am seriously obsessed with them teehee), my favorite movie is the live action Cinderella, and my favorite food is tater tots (with mustard of course)!!
GETTING TO THE WORLD RACE DECISION:
The World Race is something that has been put on my heart since I was a sophomore in high school when a girl that was a senior at my high school when I was a freshman went on the World Race gap year program. I saw what she was doing to glorify the Lord and I immediately knew that TWR is something I wanted to do, and was being called to. However, as I grew up, I began to push that dream behind me with the excuse that “it is too big for me!” or “I could never afford it!” At the time, I failed to realize that just because I believed TWR was too big for me, doesn’t mean it is too big for God, because news flash: Nothing is EVER too big for God!!!! I continued on with my life, completely forgetting about this dream God had called me to. Although, throughout high school I still had this longing in my heart to do missions. I knew I was called to love people in the form of mission work but I never knew how I would be able to and I always doubted my capability. I always believed I was under-qualified and there was always someone out there who was more destined for missions. Recently though, God has highlighted to me that He calls on people who are under-qualified because that means that He is our only source of strength and the only way we will ever get our qualification. I had been going about this whole missions things wrong. All along I had been viewing it as how am I going to get myself on missions, how can I push forward this calling in my life. I had never stopped to realize that God is the only one who can get me to where I want to be and even then, sometimes where I want to be is not where God calls me to be. I truly had to be in tune with God and His plan, because His plans are always better.
So, here I am, just starting my freshman year in college, going through so much growth and change, when God puts TWR back onto my heart. I didn’t realize the significance of it at the time, but the day I heard God telling me to go on TWR was the first time since high school that I saw the girl I previously mentioned above. What are the odds that I would see her on my fall break at a coffee shop I rarely go to?? It was a God thing. I like to believe that because I saw her, God opened up my mind to remind me of the dream I had always had but put off. Later that day, I was listening to a sermon on my way back to campus called Planted but Underfunded. The pastor was talking about how God wants to plant us even when it seems like the cost or dream is too much and how sometimes God calls us to big dreams that we know we can’t ever pull off ourselves because it highlights to us how much we need God. In the sermon, the pastor asked “What is a dream God has given you but you put off because it seemed too big?” I immediately thought of The World Race, and I often wonder if I would’ve even thought about it if I had not seen that girl from high school that day.
After I first heard God about TWR, I was so shocked and a little overwhelmed that I literally prayed out loud right then and there that God really needs to show up and make it known to me that this is something He wants me to do. I have never been out of the country before and I have never been known to take such huge leaps of Faith before. I needed to be certain it was Him. Well, the next day a girl from my high school youth group texted in a group chat I was in this message:
“when we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful and the work we do feels like play to us” (from a book i’m reading)
i feel like there’s someone who has this really cool dream that they think might be a path God wants to lead them on, but you’re scared of what might happen if you do. just make the step towards it and God will figure out all the logistics ??
I immediately knew it was God and distinctly remembering saying out loud, “Okay God. I hear you.” So, the next thing I knew I was applying for TWR. I knew that God was calling me specifically to Thailand because I couldn’t get it out of my head and heart. What the missions team is doing in Thailand is out of my comfort zone but I always say that whenever I am uncomfortable, that means God is calling me to it, because we can’t grow when we are comfortable. I am so excited for Thailand and I know firmly that God is going to show up and show OUT!!!
Putting this big dream in God’s hands is new to me, but I am so excited to grow through both this fundraising process and the trip itself. I know God will provide the expenses and I have peace in Him. I pray for each of you reading this, that God is impacting you in ways you could never dream of! I cannot wait to share more of this journey that God and I are on together, with you!!!
I always like to end blog posts with this reminder: You are loved, you are sought after, you have value and a purpose.
Love and Light,
Lalla-Rose <3
