I want to thank each and every one of you for being here and supporting me every step of this journey; I could not do this without y’all. I wanted to take a moment to explain why I am going on The World Race and how I got here.
Have you ever had an opportunity where you almost did not go through with it because you did not think you could do it?
Well, I have, and let me tell you about it.
Back in 2018, I was working my third summer at Carolina Creek Christian Camp. What I did not know was that would be my last summer working there. As much as I did not want it to be my last summer there because I loved it so much, I felt that the Lord was preparing me for something else.
After I left that summer and went back to Sam Houston State University, I got back to serving at the Baptist Student Ministry at school. There were a lot of people talking about GoNow Missions. It sounded very interesting, but it was not something that I really thought about doing. As the semester went on, I really felt that The Lord might be leading me in that direction. But out of my big fear of not being good enough or thinking that I would not be able to make it work, I pushed that calling off and tried to ignore it.
It did not work.
After talking with one of my friends who had gone on a GoNow trip that summer prior and so I decided to apply and see what happens. So, flash-forward to that summer I ended up serving through Mission Arlington for the month of July 2019. I did not have many expectations for that trip because it was my first mission trip, but it was while I was on that trip that the Lord really put on my heart a passion for children’s ministry and missions. But again, out of my fear of not being good enough, I tried to really ignore that feeling.
When I got back to college for my last year, I did not really want to go back, but I figured God had me there for a reason. That first day of class, I had the opportunity to work for a church in the children’s ministry leading their Wednesday nights Kids Ministry. It was hard, but I really enjoyed it. It was then that I realized that I really wanted to do something in the future with children’s ministry. That same semester I decided again to apply for another GoNow mission trip, so that summer I served in Beaverton, Oregon doing children’s ministry for residents in apartment complexes. It was during that experience that I realized I wanted to do mission work along with children’s ministry but was not sure how both of those things would go together.
Between finishing my last year of undergrad and going to Oregon, I realized that my next step to grow and learn in that calling would be to go to seminary. Still, I was not sure what life would look like after seminary. After I finished my first year of seminary, I began researching and looking for internships or jobs that I could do during my last year of seminary. As I was exploring, I came across a friend’s blog who is currently on The World Race. In that moment, something inside started urging me to apply. But I wasn’t ready to immediately listen. This would be out of my comfort zone, and I was not sure if I would be good enough for it. In my mind I was thinking, “Out of all the people in the world why would God want me to do it, there has to be someone more qualified who would be better for this.”
So after a lot of turning it over in my mind and a lot of praying, I decided to take a leap of faith and apply. Although I was scared, I reached out to a staff member at The World Race. My fears were relieved as I realized that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to put my passion of children’s ministry and missions together. I also knew that this would be a great opportunity for growth and learning, both personally and spiritually.
Well, here I am, on my way to doing the thing I thought I could not do.
Again, I am so excited for each and every one of you to come along this journey with me and to share what the Lord will be teaching me through this.
