Story #1
Stories are something we all have. But I’ve learned so much about them on the race. I’ve learned that we can choose to be a part of something great. Incredible stories can come from what seems like a normal life. You just have to choose to live a story worth telling or you will be living a story no one would ever want to read. So a goal that I’ve decided to make is to go into situations trusting what I hear from God because He creates stories worth telling and sometimes simply saying hi can become a story worth telling. AND HE SAYS COME HERE DAUGHTER LETS CO-CREATE TOGETHER. My dreams are His dreams. My desires are His desires if they line up with what His word says. He wants us to use our desires to dream and He invites us to create a story with Him.
So in this blog I’m going to share a story:
I taught ski school.
If I’m honest sometimes I don’t know what I’m doing with my life, and I feel totally out of control. But I’ve realized that’s okay. I don’t want to live the normal American dream lifestyle working 9 to 5 and one day wishing I did more, it’s just not what I’m called to right now but I strongly believe some people are. In college, I decided to say yes to Jesus. It honestly took a while before I fully gave Him all my yeses. Even now it’s something I struggle with. But I’ve realized giving Him my yes normally means things turn out different than I expect and usually better.
So ski school is one of those things I said maybe I could do this. But never fully said I can do it because what if I couldn’t make it happen. What if I actually allowed it to be a dream and then it was crushed. But one day I decided to apply. And guess what it all worked out and I got to go. Imagine that. I said yes to a dream.
So I graduated college and the next day took off for Lake Tahoe, California. I went knowing no one, but I was ready. I lived with two girls who were very different from me, but I got to be there friend. Come to find out one of them thought I was, well in nice words, not a kind person at first. I was sick when I get there. Sicker than I had been in years. So I just got there and slept a lot and didn’t really talk to them. However, when I got better I got to know them and some of the people I worked with and we became friends. A lot of them partied, which isn’t really my scene. It never has been, but I met some people who I really got along with. A lot of them didn’t really know about Jesus though and at first I was intimidated. I didn’t think I could talk about Jesus with these people because they would think I was crazy (glad I’m over that). But God used it as a way to introduce Himself to them, especially my roommates. I didn’t realize it at the time but looking back I’m like wow God really wants a relationship with them. I think that He does with everyone, but He was very specifically going after them. We would hang out and eat dinner or have wine nights and Jesus would just come up. So naturally. It happened often. I got to hear them talk about why Christianity was hard for them to believe and what their restraints were and how they’re burned. I got to hear them out and then explain what I believed. I got to explain the difference between a relationship with Jesus and religion. Neither of them decided to have a relationship with Jesus, but God wanted those seeds planted. He wanted them to know He loves them just the way they are. He sent me to them to be their friend and tell them that their Father in heaven loves them more than anyone else ever could.
It’s not coincidence when someone meets you where you’re at to share the love of Christ, whether that’s through words or actions. It’s the Holy Spirit in them and they’re saying yes to co-create a story with God. They’re saying yes to allow God to seek after someone.
That’s one of the few sweet stories I have from those incredible 4 months where I said yes to a dream I had. I learned a lot in those few months and experienced Jesus in many ways that honestly a lot of them I didn’t see until looking back and realizing how present Jesus is all the time. We just need to look for Him.
My next few blogs I’m just going to share some stories I’ve created on the race.
P.S. I made it to Ecuador, month 11, and land in Florida 4 weeks from today.
W H A T ? See you all soon.
