World Race GAP YEAR. What have I gotten myself into???
All throughout high school I always thought I knew my steps after graduation. Yes, I was that freshman who knew where she was going to college and exactly what her major was going to be. I was going to be a nurse practitioner, study at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and then do medical missions hopefully in Africa.
Last year, my junior year, God started doing some switching around to my nicely laid out life plans. I visited two different nursing programs, and had a blow-to-the-gut feeling that it was not for me. I was not created to be a nurse. Then at my visit to Liberty, I fell in love with their micro biology department. My public-school-budget mind was blown away by all of their new microscopes, DNA testers, and chemical labs. (I always get blank, polite smiles when I talk about this stuff, but hey you guys, I love it:)) So I had my newly updated life plan going into the summer. I would study microbiology, go to Liberty, and then get a job creating sustainable medicine and food in 3rd world countries.
Things continued to change after that. Throughout the summer, I was hearing more and more about different people’s gap years and how life-altering they had been. I mentioned it to my parents and they were all for it, but wanted me to make the decision. Great… They encouraged me to give it a chance and see where God might take me. The next few months were filled with prayer and me freaking out that this could be happening. Next thing I know, I applied to the World Race and was accepted 3 days later in the beginning of October. It was all a blur.
My life plans were completely out the window, and God was taking charge. I was (and still am) excited, nervous, terrified, and even more excited. God is so good, his plans are higher than my own, and he calls us to trust him. Skipping a year of school to go live around the world for 9 months is nuts. It could be dangerous, there will be food I don’t like, immunizations could leave me hanging and I could get really sick. But is it worth it, when the mission is to be the love and light of Christ? Absolutely. Christ does not call me to live a comfortable life. He was persecuted and crucified, but overcame by resurrecting from death. That is my God and that is the one I want to serve. I want to follow in the footsteps of the One who gave everything to me so that I may give it all away for him.
That is why I am doing the World Race Gap Year. To be uncomfortable, to be a witness for the incredible love of Christ, and see what He has in store. This decision is crazy and completely unexpected, and I don’t know what I’m doing but God does. To wrap it all up, I want to leave you all with two verses that I’m currently resting in.
Psalms 56: 4 “In God, whose word I praise, In God I trust; I shall not be afraid”
Ephesians 3: 20-21 “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen.”
