I had given my notice. As of June 25th, 2006, I would no longer be youth director at Christ Presbyterian Church, but the news still wasn’t public. During a talk with my supervisor Pastor Jan Cook she compared what I was doing with letting go of a trapeze bar. She told me, “Life with God never resembles monkey bars, where you get to hold one bar while reaching for the next. Instead it’s like jumping off a trapeze, you have to trust, jump and hope that someone is there to catch you.” I jumped when I listened to God and left my job at the church and at that point I was flying high with no landing in site.
Some of the youth and I had just gotten back from a week long mission trip to Mexico. When I returned to the U.S. one thought kept reverberating through my mind, I am most joyful while doing missions or anything mission related.
On Good Friday two of my friends, Joy and Tamara, and I took off for San Francisco to see an Easter Drama. On the ride Joy told us about how she had this friend Anne who was doing a trip called the World Race. As soon as Joy explained the premise to me I was hooked. I could not stop thinking about the trip. I spend the entire car ride wondering if God could have something as wonderful as the World Race in store for me. I day dreamed about it, talked with the girls about it, prayed about it, then plotted ways to make it a reality.
The idea didn’t just go away. That night, I had a horrible time sleeping because my mind kept racing. Did I really have the opportunity to go to 11 countries in 11 months? Could I be a full time missionary dependent on support? Would I actually get minister with a team of passionate believers my same age? Could I abandon everything about the life I knew and set off?
On Saturday we headed back to San Diego and my thoughts about the World Race bordered on obsessive. I purposely didn’t make any Easter plans so that I would have the day to think and pray about it. I went to Sunrise service then spent hours checking out the web site and reading blogs. At that point last year’s racers were in ASIA celebrating Easter in underground churches. Between naps (Sunrise service always gets me) I prayed about the trip and begged for God’s guidance. That day I begin the short application.
One year later I’m celebrating Easter in Peru. I am so thankful that God brought me into this adventure. Trusting God and letting go of the trapeze bar was definitely worth it!
A children’s ministry festival we recently did in Lima.
