So I’m in. It’s official. Im in. This chance of a lifetime that I’ve been thinking and dreaming about for years has finally arrived. In October I will be leaving for The World Race. I will be leaving the country for a year to travel to 11 countries in 11 months, which includes the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Ecuador, Columbia, Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua, to serve the Lord.
I first heard about The World Race when I was a freshman in college, which was about 4 years ago. My first thought was WOW that sounds incredible. Who wouldn’t want to to serve the Lord while traveling the world. So for the next few years I knew that this is what I wanted to do when I graduated college. I had no doubts. This is where the Lord was leading me and I could see ways that He was already preparing me. It is something I thought about often and would tell people I was thinking about doing when I graduated college. The Lord had given me a love for travel and a love for his people, especially his kiddos. So this was perfect.
Well in November I applied for this adventure, I applied to take a leap of faith into the unknown and follow Jesus, and at first I was super excited about it but after about a month my feelings started to change. I never doubted that the Lord wanted me to go on this trip, however I was being attacked with one very specific doubt and I was starting to let this doubt flood my mind and make my decisions. The doubts weren’t about raising the money to go, or what we will be doing while on the world race, or sickness, or even for my safety, which all seem like doubts that are more rational than mine. My doubt and my fear has continually been what I will be missing at home while I’m away, which seems like the thing I should be least worried about. This chance to serve Jesus wouldn’t be something that I would ever regret, but fearing what I would miss still was seeming to have a hold on my decisions. This thought hasn’t left my mind for weeks. What started this doubt is that one of my very best friends is getting married a week after I am projected to leave for the world race. The thought that keeps coming to mind over and over is that if this is just a week after I leave, what else am I going to miss in the remaining 11 months I will be gone. It has constantly been something I have thought about. And I have honestly been putting off preparing to go at all because I just keep wondering if this is what I want to do. If I really want to miss a years worth of stuff at home to go on this trip……
This week the Lord stopped me and reminded me that this trip isn’t about me, it’s about serving Him. It is not about the places I’ll go or the things I will miss but the people I’ll meet and how He will change them and me along the way to be more like Christ. He reminded me there will be sacrifices I will have to make, but I’m not called to live a selfish life but a selfless one just like Christ did for us. So as I was reminded of who I am living for I will say again that I am in. I am all in for whatever Christ has for my life not just for this next year but for my entire life. Because whatever he has in store will be a lot better than what I have planned for myself. I am praying the Lord will prepare me to sacrifice what I need to be able to put everything I have into this journey even through the times that will be tough and not to worry about the things happening back home. But to continually be present in what’s happening at each moment and to be ALL IN for Christ!
