So here we are, the first blog, the first chapter to the story of an adventure God has invited me on. Saying yes to The World Race has been an adventure all on its own of just giving God my yes. This is a story of obedience and faith. This is the story of how God was preparing my heart for The World Race.
It all started where the rest of the world ended, quarantine. Before Covid I was a kids director at the church I had been attending. I would spend most days of the week at the church with my team. My lead team wasn’t just my team, they were family. My church wasn’t just a building, it was my home. When Covid hit, I couldn’t be up at the church and everyone I was living with was out of state or at their family’s house staying safe. I lived alone with nothing to keep me busy. But in the slowing down, in the isolation, God used this time and space for what the year 2020 was meant to do. He refocused me and made my vision clear.
The first week of quarantine, God started speaking to me a lot from the book of Esther. The more I read through the book, the more I came to understand that Esther took a step of obedience and saved an entire nation. I didn’t understand what step of obedience God could possibly be asking of me, he had everything right? As I was praying this, God spoke to me saying “So if I asked you to give up the kids director position at the church would you?” If I’m honest, the answer was no.
As the month went on I would brush off what God had spoken but it got harder and harder each day. One evening I felt God speak to me saying “Pray and worship me. Sing what is on your heart because there is something within you I need to show you.” Keep in mind that I am in no way a worship leader haha but I started singing and praying what I felt like was on my heart. As I did this, I found myself singing and praying about all the nations / unreached people groups / people who don’t feel seen, heard or loved. I wept the whole time. Before I knew it two hours had gone by when I finally had picked myself up off of the floor. I realized all that my heart was burdening for, and none of it was for the kids ministry position I was in. At that moment I knew I had to step out of the kids director position and go wherever it was that God was leading, although I didn’t know where that was yet.
I talked to my Pastor and transitioned out of my position, my church and ultimately my place of comfort. I felt like God was pushing me out with nowhere to go. Until one sleepless night I was laying down to go to bed when I heard him whisper “The World Race” to me. I had never heard of it before and at 1am I wasn’t about to find out haha. I rolled over trying to go back to sleep but an hour went by and I couldn’t get it off my mind. So I got up, got my laptop, and looked into whatever The World Race was.
The more I read into it, the more my heart raced. As I read about the trip, the places we would be going to and the people groups we would be ministering to my eyes welled with tears. I knew it was what God had for me to step into. As I prayed about it the following week God gave me confirmation after confirmation. So I applied and stepped onto the team!
God is inviting me to go on an adventure of a lifetime with him and I dare not say no. I’m excited to gain a deeper understanding of his love for me and the people he surrounds me with. I can’t wait to love people in a way they feel seen and loved. And I’m excited to see how he used people’s love and generosity in helping me get to the places he has called me.
This is the beginning of my calling. This is the starting line.
