This started out, as a blog to talk about how blogs are the highlights and over glamorized, how blogging doesn’t paint a true picture of the world race, but this blog turned into a reflection and processing and God, as he often does, made it something much more for me.
So with that being said;
Let’s take a stroll down memory lane…
When I graduated college in 2007 I was seeking more. I grew up always feeling like there was more to God, but not knowing how to pursue him. My spirit was not nourished the way I craved.
After college I began to search for God. Where did I start? Amazon.com where else? From amazon I purchased a paperback pamphlet by a man named Seth Barnes, called The Art of Listening Prayer. I had no idea the impact that this purchase would have on my life at the time.
After finishing said packet, I noticed that Seth Barnes had an organization, Adventures In Missions. Again, I had no idea then the impact this website navigation would have on my life.
I quickly found a trip that caught my eye, 11 months in Swaziland, Africa, and my soul yearned for this experience, something to rock my world and solidify my faith, but my anxiety and obligations held me back from applying. I would check back almost weekly and read the descriptions of all the trips.
As time went on I discovered the World Race. It looked amazing. I was captivated by blogs. I was in a season of darkness in my own life in limbo between living in the world and trying to pursue God and really what that meant for my life. I didn't have Christian friends at the time, I didn't have community, and I was fighting to stay afloat through the midst of being a first year teacher and the death of my grandfather.
I would pray that I would lose my job so that I could use that as a sign that the race was for me. I longed for this opportunity, but thought my anxiety would never allow me the opportunity.
I read blogs for the next 3 years, I’d be late night lesson planning and next thing I'd know I would have 10 tabs open with blogs. As I read, I read about a God who’s alive, a Jesus who was a friend, and a Spirit that moved.
I would read the experiences of other people and know that the God I had imaged was real. As I struggled to connect and find a community, I was encouraged by AIM blogs, they showed me that other people believed what I believed and I wasn't crazy. In some ways the people in the blogs were my community and helped me to press in when I felt alone.
So thank you Seth Barnes for your vision and thank you AIM for seeking after Gods heart. Thank you bloggers from 2008-2012 for sharing your experiences. Thank you Mom and Dad for introducing me to Jesus and thank you Rob Reimer for encouraging more of God. Thank you Tommy Hogan for walking me through freedom, and thank you to my small group for your love and support. Thank you Amanda Brown for encouraging me to go to Alabama, and thank you Cindy Kopsick for praying with me about the world race, and thank you Louis Lemieux for you vision of the mud hut and the Sydney Opera House, and thank you God for being a God who redeems all things.
I have just completed month 6 of my own World Race and every day I ask myself, whose life is this? Am I really here?
