“...weeping may stay for the night.

But rejoicing comes in the morning.”

Psalm 30:5

Seventeen days and eighteen hours from now I will be at campus officially beginning the next chapter. World Race Gap Year. If I were to type out that I was solely excited right now, I would be lying. And if I were to type out that I was solely sad, I would also be lying. 

April 12th, 2021. What a day. On this day, I woke up at 5:00am and opened at the local coffee shop. I had no idea that I was going to receive news that would rock my world that afternoon. With my WRGY interview being at 1:30pm, I was excitedly nervous for what the future held. I got to hear the words, “congratulations! You have been accepted for the World Race Gap Year program!” I cried tears of joy. In that moment I was able to see how God used the hills and valleys in my life to prepare me for such work. 

June 19th, 2021. The last night of boot camp. Being a part of a room full of Christians standing in agreement to follow the Lord, lay down their lives, pick up their cross, and wholeheartedly pursue The King is one of my favorite memories. This is a commitment we, all three squads on campus that week, made at camp. We said we would keep our “yes” on the table for the Lord no matter what. During camp, the squads sat under a teaching about the Holy Spirit. In this lesson, the HS was represented by water. On the last night of camp there was a pretty strong rain storm. My tent ended up flooding. At first I scrambled to put all of my things in a water proof bag, and then I just sat in my flooding tent for a minute. I took a deep breath and cried. Tears of peace. I was, and still am, content where the Lord is leading me. 

August 23rd, 2021. I got an email from my advisor. This email notified all squad members and registered parents that parent launch, because of Covid-19 numbers, was canceled. When I initially read this email, my heart sank. I had already worked towards being emotionally prepared for that weekend. I texted the people I needed to text to see if they had read the news, and then I cried. These were tears of sadness. 

Something I have come to learn is that tears reset the body. Tears are good. And it is even better when someone can vocalize the reason behind the tears. Through the “getting ready” part of this journey, there have been many tears. Tears of many different emotions. Emotions are important and a gift from God. I love that we can relate to our Savior in this way.

“Jesus wept.”

John 11:35 

I have heard a few times that I will never be fully prepared for this adventure. The truth of that statement continues to sink in. With everything that is going on in the world, some things are just unpredictable. Nevertheless, God is not taken by surprise. I am looking forward to being back with my squad in a little less than three weeks. As launch gets closer, please be in prayer for my family and friends back home, the WR leaders, the hearts of the people we will minister to, and for the squads/teams to strive for Christlike community and mindset in all we do. 

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

Much love, 

KJ

Hattiesburg, MS