I love, love, love mission trips.
There are many reasons, but one of the biggest is that I have to have this whole new dependence on God. He has to be the one to make everything come together, it's literally impossible for me to do it on my own.
I think in America we have a tendancy to limit God. We try to do everything on our own and miss out on blessings God has for us, because we don't need Him. Very few times are we stripped down to absolute rock bottom, where we have NOTHING but God. The WR is doing that for me. I get to see all the ways that God is taking the control away from me and working through people to provide for my needs. Here are some of the tiny miracles that have happened already in preparing for the Race:
-The first weekend after I learned I was officially going on the Race my dad took me shopping for gear. He bought my backpack and sleeping bag said he would pay for my tent and sleeping pad when I found ones I wanted. These are easily the most expensive items on my packing list and are definitely the ones I was stressing out about paying for. I wasn't expecting any major help from my parents, not that they aren't generous or willing, but this is my trip that I have committed to, and I wasn't planning on asking for them to pick up my slack. Them offering to pay for my gear was totally a gift from God.
– One Sunday I was feeling really sad about leaving on the race. Don't get me wrong, I'm so excited, but leaving makes me appreciate my amazing church family here and I was just sad and nervous about leaving everyone behind.What if everyone is married and has moved away when I come back?! What if life just goes on without me and no one has room for me anymore? That night at college group we talked about revival, and what it meant for God to truly show up and work in our lives. We had a time of prayer, and our college pastor said if we needed to confess our sins to each other or pray together we were free to get up and go about the room. I was talking to God about my feelings for the Race and really struggling, when my best friend came over and pulled me aside. "I want to pray for you about your trip." I cried as she prayed a prayer of blessing and comfort over me, and for me to know I was doing exactly what God wanted me to. God had told her what I was struggling with and sent her to comfort me! So crazy.
– I am selling bracelets for a fundraiser for my trip, through an organization the WR partners with called Threads of Hope. (If you want to buy some, let me know!) I brought them to sell to the middle schoolers I work with on Tuesday nights, and they of course went crazy over them, telling me they'd bring money next week and they each wanted five different colors. One boy came up to me with a $20 bill and said he wanted one bracelet. I told I didn't have enough change that night but that I would bring them for a few weeks. He looked at me and said "No, I don't want change, I want to give you $20 for one bracelet." I told him he was going to make me cry! Such a giving spirit from a middle schooler!
There are other stories of generosity I could tell you, like my dad's coworkers who I've never even met that have sent money to support me, or the teacher at the middle school that offered to sell bracelets out of her classroom for me. I just wanted to say these tiny miracles don't go unnoticed, that your sensitivity to the urging of the Holy Spirit is making a huge difference in my life and allowing me to see and trust God in a way I never have before.
