On the first of this month, I got home from a summer of camps and travels and late nights and hard laughs and many, many sweet moments! I feel at this in-between of wanting to still be in the summer, but also excited and ready to focus solely on t h i s instead.
The past few days have been full of catching up on life, trying to find a new routine, lots of good time with friends, and lots and lots of laundry.
Right now, in the in-between, I’m all of a sudden realizing the different paths each of my friends is on… and how disconnected our paths now seem.
For the past four years, my closest friends and I have been on paths running parallel to each other: attending the same school, living close to each other, and pursuing Jesus with each other.
And now… we’re not. We’re in different cities, different programs, different churches, different Bible studies, and preparing for different stages of life.
This realization of DIFFERENT has reminded me of an encouragement from Hebrews 12:1-2:
“… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…”
Let us run with endurance… the race set before us… me. you. us. I’m running my race and nobody else’s.
Looking to Jesus… eyes f i x e d on Jesus. Not looking to the left or the right at the races my friends are running, but looking to Jesus… the founder and perfecter of my faith. And yours, too.
One of the most promising things from these verses for me is that this life, this path, this race… is purposeful. I know where I’m going.
And I find encouragement in 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 too:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.”
This tells me that my race must be intentional. I must be so focused on the prize that everything I do is with the purpose of obtaining it.
And so… I run.
Not always quickly. Not always well. Not always even in the right direction, but I’m running.
And I stumble. I look to my left and my right and see the friends whose races look different from mine, and I wonder if my race is wrong.
But I know, my race is purposeful and so I must make it intentional. And the Bible is filled with promises that God is working all things together for good, and so I know, that my. race. is. good.
And right now, my race is this: preparing for the work God will do in and through me in Ethiopia.
It means laundry and packing, and praying and reading, and planning and fundraising.
I’m about 70% funded–which is i n c r e d i b l e !!! But also means, I’m not done yet. I need help. If you could prayerfully and thoughtfully consider supporting me financially, or connecting me with a friend/family member/coworker of yours that you think might be interested in doing the same, it would mean the world to me!
Above all, please just pray. That the next few weeks would be filled with peace and purpose, and that my team and I would be prepared for our ministry when the time arrives. Pray that we would keep our eyes fixed on Jesus now and forever.
