15 weeks. That’s exactly how long I have been fundraising and preparing for my voyage next year through the World Race. 15 weeks, as in 4 months or 105 days or 2,520 hours.
Many times I look back on where the 15 weeks have brought me and I feel like a failure.
I can’t believe I’ve ONLY raised 9.5% of my total goal.
I can’t believe I ONLY have 6 months left to raise 90.5% more.
What am I doing wrong? Is it even possible to raise this much??
As the days and weeks pass these thoughts continue to race through my head, and all I can do is lean completely and solely into my Savior.
Father, I can’t do this! I can’t do this without you, without you moving through me and in the hearts of every one I come into contact with. I can’t believe you have blessed me with so much: with 9.5% raised so far, I am amazed! Thank you, Father! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
It’s in these moments that I become aware of what God is trying to teach me through this crazy, dauntingly difficult, sometimes fun process called fundraising. I have learned many things these past 15 weeks, but I’d like to share with you, dear reader, 5 specific lessons I’ve learned from fundraising:
- Money isn’t evil.
Right at the start of fundraising I realized a lie that was etched into the back of my mind: money is evil. I don’t know if it was because of all the warnings the Bible gives us about money or what I’ve heard from people personally about the topic, but somehow down the line the idea of money being evil had become a part of my everyday life.
God has shown me that while money can lead down dangerous roads, it is also a blessing from Him. And even more than this, money is something God uses to bless people, to help people, to create partnerships between people, among many other things. Money is a gift that God can and does use!
- Giving (and not only receiving) is a blessing.
For years I’ve thought I couldn’t possibly give because I’m just a student. The notion that giving was for those with salaries was so engrained into me that I thought there was no way I could give someone my precious, part-time-job-earned money.
As I started fundraising, I noticed others around me raising funds as well, and I felt God pulling on my heart. I was looking for financial blessings, but I realized how much of a blessing it was to give money to others. Instead of holding on to “my money”, God taught me what a joy it is to give what He’s blessed me with in order to do His will.
- When you’re following God’s will the devil is gonna strike, and he’s gonna strike hard.
The past 15 weeks have brought up issues in my life ranging from problems from years ago to completely new ones. For the first time since high school I was struggling with feeling insecure, worrying about if I looked fat, and thinking that I didn’t have cool enough clothes or long enough hair or whatever. There was a constant, tight knot in my stomach from the anxiety and fear I had about raising money, getting good grades, having my professors and every single person around me like me, etc.
Although this is still something I’m learning more about (and may continue learning for a long time), God has been teaching me to let go. To let go of the fear and lies that are constantly circling my head and to lean into the strength of Him.
- To have more confidence: No more (Minnesota) nice girl.
You may not know this (or you may know this first-hand), but “Minnesota nice” is a real thing. While being Minnesota nice is awesome, it has its downsides such as often times being correlated with passive-aggressiveness, conflict-resolution avoidance, and hiding emotions. Being a good ol’ Minnesota-yeah-ye-bechya girl, all of these traits (if I’m being honest) are ones that can describe me in many circumstances.
While fundraising, I’ve had to face a lot of these issues and do hard things like show my passion for missions in Asia in a speech or ask someone if they would be willing to giving financially again after they have already given. Although these times were incredibly hard to overcome, I’ve learned to trust God more and more through them.
- It’s not about me.
This one was taught to me by a dear fellow racer, Niki Suber. We were on the phone one night talking about the World Race when she said, “It’s not about me.” It seems this hit us both out of the blue, and you can read more about what God has been teaching her about this here.
But isn’t it amazing to know that it’s not about me? It’s not about 21 year old, (soon to be) recent college graduate Laura Berg and all her personal issues and all the mistakes she makes every day. It’s not about any of that, but it’s about God! It’s about what He is doing and how He is moving in this world! Everything I’m learning, all the money I’m raising, it’s not for me, but it’s for His glory!
And that, my friends, is incredibly freeing.
