In six months, I will pack into a backpack that I will call
my home for the next six months.
I heard a quiet tap on my heart but it was so soft that I
sang a little louder to drown it out. But the louder I sang, the more
pronounced the tap became. Then one day, I was completely silent. All I heard
was continual soft gentle taps on my heart. That’s when the Lord whispered, “Sarah, it’s time to answer me. You must go.”
That complete silence happened for me in the middle of May.
I prayed for the Lord to send someone else. The enemy kept nagging in my ear, “Sarah, you can’t leave your family behind
after what happened. How dare you think about abandoning them?” But the
good Lord kept whispering, “Sarah, serve
me. You aren’t leaving your family. They will be safe in my arms, Sarah.”
That’s when the conversations began. I talked to my dear friends,
to my mom, and to the staff at Experience Mission. And then I prayed. On a
Friday evening, I prayed and pleaded to the Lord to provide me with some peace
about the decision to go. When I woke up on Saturday, I was clothed in peace. I
had never felt so settled about a decision in my life.
The next part went very quickly and after meetings with
references, an application and a video interview, I found myself accepted to my
team.
In six months, I will pack into a backpack that I will call
my home for the next six months. I will be a member of the Caribbean Immersion team through Experience Mission. On January 8th, I will travel to
Fort Wayne, IN to meet my team and undergo a couple days of training. We will
then travel to Harlem in New York City to do three weeks of local service
before we embark on the remainder of our journey. The next six months will be
spent in Haiti, Jamaica, and Belize, where we will live with host families and
immerse ourselves in the local culture.
I am beyond excited to serve the Lord in a new, unfamiliar
and uncomfortable way. I am ready for the Lord to convict my heart and take me
to new depths. I hope that you will join me in praying for my preparation for
this trip. If you would like to financially support me, you can do so easily
through my fundraising page.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.” I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
Isaiah 61
The Lord is SO beyond good, y’all.
