I can’t say I’ve ever blogged before from 35,000 ft in the air. I guess there is a first time for everything…. Which I’m sure will happen a lot on the World Race. I’m currently on board Southwest flight 639 headed to Midway/Chicago. I’ll only be there for a few hours for business, then a short drive back to Minnesota.
I hope you all got a chance to read about the “Darkness” in my life. That was VERY hard to write. Like I mentioned before, I am usually very private about those things. But I felt that I needed to write it because it will prove to you that if you believe in our Lord, He will help overcome ANY obstacle. Now I will tell how I found God and how I got to where I am today……..six months away from The World Race.
As the darkness prevailed I was looking for somewhere to go, someone to talk to. I had a few select people that I trusted and talked to who would give me advice. It was the usual “Keep your head up” “there will be brighter days” all that fun stuff…..which was awesome, so THANK YOU to those spoke words of encouragement. I know ya’ll are reading this because I see that ya’ll subscribed to my blog!
Prior to a few years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to meet Jenny (a.k.a Jenny from the Block) by working at Coldwell Banker Burnet and then eventually joining the Grimes Group in which we worked closely together. Just out of random conversation Jenny had mentioned that one of her friends named Rachel (Hi sissy!) went on this mission trip called The World Race. She told me a little bit about it and I was like “Oh, cool. Good for her. Where are we going for lunch?” Little did I know a few months later I would be taking the same journey. I knew Jenny was close to God so I went to her for advice when I was having trouble. She referred me to Rachel’s blog while she was on The World Race. I figured I had nothing else to do so I looked it up and was HOOKED on Rachel’s blog. She would post scriptures that would help me pick myself up and tell stories about how the love of God helped her make it through her tough times. She told stories about how she helped out at orphanages, helped prostitutes in Thailand, and even how she fell through a roof! The love that God showed her encouraged me because I know I could tap into His love as well. I started taking the scriptures she wrote to heart and began to feel better about myself. I knew that if I chose to open my heart to our Lord that I could too be healed. I remember getting a reality check when Rachel was telling the story about how EVERYTHING was stolen from her in Malaysia (I think). Ipod, passport, visas……EVERYTHING. I recall that her squad was getting ready to leave the country and poor Rachel was without a passport. She told how she was scrambling to beat office closing times and convince people to get her passport to process quickly; all while praying to God that it would all work out. Well guess what folks, God worked it out! Rachel got her passport and was on her way just in time. I’m don’t think she got all of her other things back, but at least she didn’t have to stay back in some foreign country alone. I remember saying to myself, this poor girl had everything stolen from her including her passport and she was almost left behind because she didn’t have a passport to get out of Malaysia. Here I am in EDEN PRAIRIE worrying about how I’m going to pay for my car, pass my classes, and other stupid little things. I’m pretty sure God was saying GET OVER YOURSELF PHIL! Sooo……I did. I open my heart to the Lord and continued to pray every night asking for blessings for me, my family, Rachel, and everyone else in the world that could use a blessing. I read scriptures to encourage me to keep moving on and believing in the Lord. He will help us all overcome any perils, and we do not walk alone. He will ALWAYS be there for us when we need Him the most. Thank you Lord!
As time went by I was reading Rachel’s blogs constantly. Even past entries I would re-read just because her messages were so BOLD and encouraging. I would say about August is when things started to turn. God helped me changed my ways-I no longer had massive binge drinking weekends, I became more financially stable, and most importantly I patched things up with Momma! I apologized for my actions and just like our Lord she forgave me for all I did wrong. I am so very grateful to have a Mom that was willing to accept my apology. It wasn’t easy though. It took some convincing, but through prayer and faith in God, she and I became at ease. Now, we have a stronger relationship than ever!! I started seeing happier days the more I continued to pray and have faith in God. I felt like a whole new person! I no longer had darkness hovering over me as I continued to walk by faith. I started to realize that our God is good! He specifically showed me that even though there are tough times in life, He will always be there for us as long as we are faithful and believe in Him.
There is SO much I have left to learn and I am excited to see what the World Race has to offer. I know I’m going to be beaten down, broken, and hurt again just like I was that summer. There are going to be times when I just want to quit and head to the nearest Hilton Hotel for a hot shower, but I know it will all be OK because our good Lord will provide me with strength to continue on. From August until about January things were going awesome! I opened my heart and mind to the Lord and accepted His love. It wasn’t until January when the Lord decided to flip my whole world inside out and upside down……in a good way. See, there is this thing called the World Race, and little did I know, God was planting that seed in my heart without me knowing it…….
I guess you will have to wait until next time to see HOW The World Race seed grew in my heart!
