As I prepare to embark upon the most uncomfortable, exciting journey of my life, I keep hearing the question “Why are you going on The World Race?” So, in case you haven’t heard, here is my story!
I heard about The World Race through Mallorie Miller, who was a January ’07 Racer. I knew her from A-town and actually had the privilege of having her stay with me for a week a few months before she left.
Throughout her year away, I lived vicariously through her blogs as I laughed and cried with the stories she painted. As I was reading her last two blogs, When Worlds Collide I & II in late November with tears flowing freely, I just kept saying “I want to do this!” To which my roommate exclaimed, “Why not?” So, I gave her my list of reasons I believed that I could not do this “crazy race” as I had deemed it in my mind. To which she replied, “Isn’t God bigger than all those things?” (FYI, I often want to throw things at her amazing wisdom because she is normally right!) But I could not wrap my brain around the idea that I could actually do this race. So, I just let it go. A few times in the following month, I would think about doing international missions, but I just kept thinking that I needed to decrease my debt before I would be able to do anything.
Fast forward to our young adult New Year’s Eve party. I was approached by our ministry leader, who just happens to be the psychologist at our church. And he responds with words that you never want to hear from a pyschologist: “So, when are you coming to see me? The Lord has been chatting about you lately.” Believe me when I say that I would have rather heard anything but that.
So, I met with him a few weeks later to determine what the Lord had been tattling about. The Lord had been telling him that I was “miserable” because I was not doing what He had called me to do. As I sat there rather dumbfounded and somewhat elated that it wasn’t the “worst case scenario” that I had conjured in my mind, I asked if he knew what it was about. He stated that he did not know. But within fifteen seconds, he said “does the word ‘international’ mean anything?” to which I jumped out of my chair and exclaimed “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?”
I met with Mallorie a few days later, and she mentioned that there were two specific times during her race that she knew she would be having a conversation with me about missions and asking the question “Are you ready?”
So, I came up with this great plan to go to Africa and began researching organizations. Until about two weeks later when the Lord began prompting me to listen to His still, small voice. And this is what He said: “That was your plan, and this is mine. I want you to go on The World Race.”
As my pastor always says, “We will never win an argument with the Lord.” I tried, but to no avail.
So, here I am.
