One week until I begin my journey south.
Am I packed? Not a chance. I don’t even have a list of ideas nor have I unpacked my stuff I brought home from college. That’s right, the planner does not have a plan for once. I am driving 19 hours, arriving in South Carolina, and living there for 11 weeks. I don’t have a job set in stone, I don’t know my living arrangements ahead of time, and I’m short almost $730. Yikes.
With all this happening so quickly, part of me is waiting for the panic to set in- I’ll wait until next Monday for that though. The other part of me (probably the majority) knows that even the unplanned, unknown will be used for His kingdom in the long run. I need to know and understand true reliance on the Lord. $730 is quite a bit to be short and quite a bit that I do not have available. Thus, I must trust on my God. This is the Lord preparing my heart for the next step. If I don’t rely on him within the preparations, how can I expect to rely on Him through the duration?

I know this summer has something big in store for me. Nothing, NOTHING, will hold me back. I am heading out into this adventure like Paul:
“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:12-16 ESV)

He has chosen me faithful and ready to do his ministry. I am willing to follow this example and be an example of the Lord’s goodness, faithfulness, and love. I have been given grace. What an opportunity that I cannot pass up.

May I come back full of experience, maturity, a grace-filled heart, and a real passion for the urgency of the gospel.

[originally posted 5.16.2012]