I’ll admit it, I had a pretty hard time answering this question. It surprised me because going on the World Race is something I feel so passionately about… so I should know why I want to do this right? But then I realized that this calling is so hard to put into words because it comes from the deepest desire of my heart to know, love and serve God. It’s something He’s written on my heart and yours from the very beginning of time.
I grew up in church and my parents built a strong faith foundation for me at a young age. I’ve always believed in God and known that He was good and that Jesus died to save me from my sins. But that was just a knowledge of Him and the people I saw at church had a relationship with Him. I wanted that relationship, I wanted more.
My faith finally became my own in seventh grade when I went on a four day hike with a backpacking ministry called Wilderness Trail. I had been trying to form a relationship with God for years at that point and all I had to show for it was a shaky acquaintance-ship I often neglected, but it was a start. That week was HUGE for my faith. I got to experience God’s love in a way I never had before, as I was surrounded by some of His most beautiful creation- MOUNTAINS!!! I had been struggling with a lot, mainly perfectionism and recognizing my own worth but the people in my group helped me let God in and let His grace and love fill in all my cracks and cover the brokenness. It was amazing. I finally felt peace and relief, all because of God. And I wanted more.
It was after that hike that I really committed to actively increasing my faith and forming an intimate relationship with God. I started out small, just reading the verse of the day on the Bible app and praying every night before I went to sleep. That became a habit, so much so that I couldn’t sleep unless I’d talked to God first. But I still wanted more. I still needed healing and comfort that could only be found in Him. I tried morning devotionals but they didn’t stick (I’m not a morning person and am always late for school anyway). I continued going on retreats with my youth group, but the mountain top highs only left me with a short lived resolve to focus on my faith that would fade as soon as life got busy again. I tried devotional journaling and gratitude lists but nothing would last more than a few months. And I wanted more than that.
Now, almost five years after that first hike, I can look back and see that I’ve grown tremendously in my faith. It’s still not perfect. I still get busy and push God aside sometimes. I still have dry spells when I can’t find the motivation to do anything more than my nightly prayers. But others times, I’m starting my day off by talking to God and continuing to pray through out the day or I’m keeping up with devotionals and even helping others grow in their faith. I can talk to God and know that He is listening. I can look back on certain parts of my life and see how His hands were working. I now serve in that same backpacking ministry and hope to help others form their own relationship with God. But still, I WANT MORE!!!
The more I get to know God and His heart, the more I grow to love Him. My faith is stronger than it was, sure. And I definitely do have a solid relationship with the Man Upstairs. But it’s not enough. I want to dive into my relationship with God and let it touch every aspect of my life. I want to be in constant communion with Him and I want people to encounter Him through me. I want more and the World Race is the next step.
You can’t dive unless you have deep water and God calling me to the Race is Him providing that deep water.
