Journey Of Sacrifice
In five days I will be leaving Jacksonville for the World Race. Five Days! I'm so excited and so terrified at the same time. It has been almost a full year since I first filled out the application and now it's only five days until I leave. God has changed my life so much in this last year that I'm not even the same person now that I was last summer when this journey began.
When I first went to the Adventures in Missions website and submitted my application I was only a few weeks sober. One of the questions I was asked in my interview was if I was ready leave my life behind for eleven months. At the time, the answer was easy. Of course I was. I didn't have much of a life to leave behind. I didn't have a job. I didn't have many friends because I had screwed so many people over and isolated myself so much. I was going to church, but I barely knew anybody there yet. I was living on my parents couch with no idea where my life was going to go from there. I had lived in Jacksonville for most of my life and I didn't like it that much. The prospect of leaving for eleven months really wasn't that scary at the time. God had asked me to lay everything on the altar for a season, but it really didn't feel like I was sacrificing too much.
A year later with less than a week before I leave, I now realize that God gave me something to sacrifice. There is so much in my life now that I love and I am going to miss. God has restored old friendships that I never thought could be restored. He has given my a countless number of new friends through River City Church and through my AA Homegroup. He Has given me a closer relationship with my family. He has given me ministries to devote my time and love to which have unlocked a love for this city that I never thought was possible. He even gave me a job. He has given me so much here that it is going to be really hard to leave it all behind on Monday.
God called me into a season of sacrifice and I thought it was going to be a cake walk. I thought that somehow He had given me an easy option and I was ready to dive in without a care in the world. I thought wrong. God gave me all of you this year. The people who have supported me and loved on me this year. The people who have stood by me even when I got a little crazy. The people who have prayed for me and listened when I needed to rant about my problems. You are all my sacrifice and I want y'all to know that I love you and I am truly going to miss each and every one of you while I am away. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I will continue to keep posting about how God is moving throughout the world and in my life while I am gone. You are all special to me and I am blessed to have you in my life. Love Y'all!!!
