Hello friends!
Sorry to all 5 of you subscribed to my blog for the lengthy period of time since my last post. I know you have been checking daily, and awaiting this post with nail-biting anticipation.
I leave for training camp tomorrow. It is so hard to believe that it's already time to make the treck to GA and FINALLY meet my fellow world racers! I was all geared up to meet my squad, who I have been faithfully facebook stalking since March, and even have plans to carpool with some girls and go to a Braves games with some cool kids in Hot-lanta the night before camp.
Then yesterday we got an email… It was asking some of us to consider switching to the recently added fourth September route, due to an overflow of racers in our squad. I totally blew it off at first. I had plans. I'd carefully memorized and googled every country to which I'd be traveling. I had been telling everyone who asked each of the 11 amazing countries to which I would be going. I put it out of my mind.
Well, if you know me, you know how well that worked out. I decided to get on the website and look at the new route, just to ease my curiosity. I scrolled down the page… South America, pretty cool… some of the same countries in Asia, but with the addition of Thailand, which I am really interested in… also going to Australia… Then I got to the African countries and saw Uganda. Uganda. There's something about that country that has always drawn me towards it. When I was thinking about this gap year, that was the one country that looked at originally.
Then I thought… Wait… I really could switch.
But my rational mind won out that day. I had travel plans. I was already in the K squad facebook group. Things were already arranged. I had gotten used to the idea of going to the countries on Route 3. Nah… better stick where I am. I kept telling all my friends how crazy it would be to switch at this point. I decided to keep a fairly open mind, and prayed about it (even though I thought I had make up my mind). I read Matthew 6:25-34 (totally perfect, and "coincidental") and went to sleep.
Then I woke up today, and literally couldn't get Uganda off my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about the child soldiers abducted by Joseph Kony. The BBC article that I read last year about child sacrifice and mutilation kept breaking my heart every moment of this morning. I worked from 9-3, and I couldn't think about anything else. I was talking to my co-worker about it (if you're on my team, get ready for a lot of these conversations. I'm an external processor), and got my awesome friends Meg, Jayne, Kaitlin, and Rachael to pray about it. As I was thinking out loud, I knew exactly what was holding me back, because it is the same thing that has made me hesitate following the Lord's call many times. FEAR. Stupid, tiny fear. As I was talking to my friend, trying to explain the pros and cons, it was so clear that the Lord was revealing this to me. Then my friend asked me a the question. "What is your gut instinct?" And without hesitation I answered, "I want to go to Uganda." And I sent the email five minutes later asking to switch routes.
So I'm still carpooling with the same girls, still going to the Braves game. But even though I have no idea what I've stepped into, I know it is right, because the Lord said so. "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." -Matthew 6: 31-34
