This past week and a half I have felt like a yo-yo, being thrown one way and pulled another. I have been going back and forth between the September World Race team and the January team. Wednesday was sort of the moment of truth—I had a week to accumulate the required $3700 necessary to purchase our plane ticket to the first destination. I would still need to raise at least $1500 more before leaving in September, and need to continue support raising throughout the year.
Well…Wednesday came, and my account still had not reached $3700. Though I couldn’t get in contact with the staff personnel that day, I assumed this meant I would be bumped to the January team. I started trying to figure out where I’d live for these additional four months and what job I would take on. I had sort of prepared myself for this for the past few weeks, so it wasn’t a huge shock when it happened.
This morning I received a call from Gary, one of the coaches for the September team. We talked for roughly half an hour, and he just encouraged me to stick with September, and trust the Lord to provide. Basically, if I was ready to step out in faith, the staff was ready to stand behind me. This brought on a whirl wind of questions on the other end of the spectrum—can I get everything together in time? Will I have all of the things I need to bring? Will I be able to take care of my student loans before I leave? Vaccinations? Insurance? Etc. These were several things that I had held off on in the case of not being able to go in September.
Gary pointed out something very important, though. Am I really ready to trust God in this? So ready that I will leave everything behind and possibly go with less than I had hoped in my backpack and account? Yes…I
am ready, but certainly slightly on edge about it. It’s that sort of feeling you got as a kid on Christmas Eve—high anticipation, with a slight fear of the unknown. I am so excited to see what God has in store for me in this coming year, and I am completely trusting that if
He sends me out in September,
He will provide the finances in
his timing. I know that it seems like I’ve said that quite a bit, but I feel like I need to keep reminding myself who’s in charge here. I need these written reminders that Christ has my well-being in mind, and also desires to stretch me. He will
never give me more than he and I can handle
together!
So…to sum this all up for you guys, here goes. I have booked a flight to training in Atlanta, GA for September 6th. We have a week of training, and then I believe we head out from there on the 15th for our first destination. I still do not know the exact destination, but staff has told us we will be going to Southeast Asia. In the meantime I am still trying to raise support, and will be making phone calls this week. *Ethan may be helping me.* This is far outside of my comfort zone, so please be praying for me to find boldness in that. In addition, my parents have decided to cover payments on the greater of my two student loans, but the second one I will have to put on forbearance. This is crazy sounding, even to me, but if anyone would be interested in paying this as a form of helping me on this trip, please let me know. The cost is $58/month.
I fully believe in the power of prayer, and I will
really need it this month. Between being in two weddings and planning for this trip, I will be trying to stay sane. So pray, pray, pray for me, please. I would love to hear from you guys, so feel free to drop me an e-mail or call me up. In closing, I would like to share a verse that a close family friend referenced with me today.
Matthew 6:33-34 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
