I try to build a theme around most of my blog titles through references to music, TV, movies, etc… So I applaud anyone who got this referral to the Talking Heads song, "Once in a Lifetime".
Moving on… One of the questions that I love hearing my fellow Racers talk about is how they got to the point where they decided they would commit to the World Race. This is a such a drastic, life-changing commitment that it seems like something that would take a heckuva lot of prayers and petition to get to a comfortable enough place to sign on to serve almost a year of your life overseas.
In regards to my own story, I love it when I'm able to share with my supporters about how I've come to this point, because I truly see it as a divine appointment for God to lead me to this adventure… in missions.
There are so many small things in life that can set larger events in motion. Some reference ripples in a pond, or the butterfly effect, while others don't care for Ashton Kutcher's acting.
I've always enjoyed piecing my life together over a series of smaller events that have made up the grander scheme, and this is no exception.
I began working at an NBC-affiliate in Waterloo a little over a year ago, and about this time in 2012, I had a choice to make between helping lead a Spring Break trip with my local college ministry, or go on a week-long vision trip to Cambodia to try to gain a perspective for what my future might hold.
Long story short, thanks to limited vacation days, and scheduling conflicts, I was unable to go on the Spring Break trip, which I took as a sign that God wanted me in Cambodia, where I would be traveling with a small group of students/recent graduates who also had a heart for fighting human trafficking.
While in Cambodia, I was having a conversation with one of my teammates about dreams from God, and some of her experiences with such encounters with the Holy Spirit. After she told me about her recurring dreams, I basically told her, "wow, that's great, but I don't really have anything like that". I've never been one to keep a dream journal, or ever feel a strong connection with my dreams, as I hardly ever even have any memories of my dreams.
Strangely enough, just a couple nights later, as I slept in our hotel room, I had a dream about… something I've never really remembered. But as I awoke, all I remember was the phrase, "Adventures in Missions" being stuck in my head. Nothing else from that dream remained, but for whatever reason, I couldn't forget that one tiny inkling of dream that stayed with me over the coming days.
At that point, I didn't know anything about AIM, or if adventures in missions was even a real thing. I think the thought just stuck with me because, well, I liked missions, and I enjoyed adventures; I just never knew if the two could be related.
I didn't do much research into my thoughts until a few days after I got back. One day as I was sitting at work with nothing to do, I was trying to look into what mission work might be in my future, and what next to do with my life, whether in television, or in the mission field. Eventually, I remembered my dream remnant, and googled (actually yahoo'd… that's right, I still use Yahoo! as my search engine) Adventures in Missions, found their webpage, and almost immediately stumbled into the World Race page.
Needless to say I was intrigued, and I truly did put a lot of prayer into the trip over the next 2 months, as well as talking to family and friends about the possibility of this adventure. And much like a lot of fellow Racers, I read up on plenty of blogs, and emailed several Racers, currently in the field to ask about their experiences, and get some advice on what might be my next step… But if I'm being honest with myself, I think I knew from that first day of finding the WR page that I didn't have much choice but to join in this grand adventure.
Since then, my days have been mostly just filled with anticipation. I truly mean it when I say that I would leave for the Race tomorrow if I had the choice… do you have any idea what January in Iowa is like?
But I also like to look ahead at all the ways that I will be changed over the next year and a half, and I hope that I will be able to make an impact on the lives of my teammates, as well as the people we encounter in our destination countries… and all this wouldn't be possible if it hadn't been for so many of the small moments, leading up to this point: 1. If I hadn't been persistent in getting this job, then I wouldn't have had to choose between Cambodia and a Spring Break mission trip. 2. If I had been able to go on the Spring Break trip, then Cambodia never would have been a reality. 3. If I hadn't been in conversation about dreams with my teammate, perhaps I wouldn't have had a dream of my own. 4. If I had been more busy at work on that fateful day, I wouldn't have been bored enough to research AIM at just the right moment.
If I looked back even further, there are countless moments that led up to these ones, and again, these are all just the small pieces that make up the big picture of our lives. I truly can't wait to experience the countless small moments I will have over the next 16 months, and see how those will affect not just me, and not just my teammates, but these moments will literally be changing the world.
