I’ve often talked to people about to embark on a missions trip and they always mention how excited they are to make an impact on the world. But what I find most interesting is that, upon returning home, the biggest change has happened in their own lives. So yes, I want to help. Yes, I want to touch people’s lives. Yes, I want to serve. But I fully expect to return home knowing that the biggest change happened in my own life and my own heart.
One of the biggest changes that I expect, is to find joy in Christ. Over the years, I’ve somehow come to believe that following God means you will be miserable. That if you want to follow God, you can’t do anything you want to do, you will have to sell everything you own and live in the dirt in Africa completely miserable just so that you can be happy in heaven. Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, this is a mindset that I’ve followed pretty much all of my life. Well, I’ve been holding back long enough, and now that I have finally decided to follow God wholeheartedly, I fully expect to find myself one day sitting in the dirt in Africa with tears streaming down my face, utterly amazed by the joy that surrounds me. I expect to be completely blown away by the happiness that I find shining forth even in the most impoverished places and despite the most humbling circumstances.
In addition to finding joy, I hope to find purpose. Part of the reason that I decided to go on the World Race is because I don’t know what I want to do with my life. I feel pulled in a million directions and that I could do down a million career paths. The only thing that I know is that I want to follow God. I hope that while I am away, God will reveal to me what He wants me to do when I return. I am hoping to return with a clearer picture on how I can “outlive my life” and how God will incorporate this vision into my career path.
Finally, I expect to cry the night before I leave, and then again the night that I have to return home. I expect to do something I’ve never done on a daily basis. I expect to eat delicious meals without any knowledge of what I’m actually eating. I fully expect to have a blast, make great friendships, and a million memories that I hope to be able to share with you along the way.
