Why am I going on the World Race?
The short answer is the Holy Spirit. No, actually that is the only reason. But allow me to elaborate and share the entire story of how I was led to apply for the World Race. My prayer is this only testifies to the kindness of Jesus and the power and presence of the Spirit.
I have known about the Race for several years having had multiple people mention the trip to me. They would always say something along the lines of “This looks right up your alley Grace maybe you should consider it”. I would immediately respond with “while it looks like an amazing experience, I love my family way too much to be gone for eleven months”. And that was always that.
In May, I had a brief conversation with an amazing woman at my church who is on fire for Jesus. In the conversation, she mentioned that she had gone on the Race years ago. I responded by saying I would love to hear more and in her faithfulness and kindness she shared pieces of her trip with me over coffee a few weeks later. I left with a grown faith from hearing only several of the powerful stories from her time on the Race. But in the moment, I would have never imagined the Lord had the Race in mind for me and my own story.
Fast forward two hours and I could not seem to entertain a single thought in my mind besides the Race. This went on for the next four days. If you know me well, you know I am an under thinker and find it very easy to push a thought to the back of my brain and not revisit it. Obviously, the Lord knew that too, and put the Race so prominent in my mind that I could not ignore it.
Over those four days, I prayed a lot. Most of the time it looked like just sitting and listening to the Holy Spirit because I had no idea what He was doing with all of the Race thoughts. On the evening of the fourth day my church hosted a women’s event led by my discipler. She did a beautiful job explaining what a life yielded to the Spirit looks like. As she walked through scripture Romans 8:14, hit me in a new light. (Praise God that his word is living and active, Hebrews 4:12). Romans 8:14 says, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” The word led implies Holy Spirit is the leader. And in light of that truth, I am not. I found myself on my face with the Lord in a posture of humble submission that I frequently find myself in. Telling God that He is worthy of my full and complete obedience.
Unsurprisingly, the Race kept popping into my mind as I spoke with the Lord. So, I got raw with the Holy Spirit right there forehead pressed to concrete floor. I entered what felt like a spiritual tug of war between my flesh and the Holy Spirit. I was telling God every reason why I did not want to go on the race and why I thought it was a bad idea. I shared the fears of leaving my family, allowing my teaching license to expire, and living outside of my routine. Honestly, the list went on and on, thank goodness we serve such a patient God. In every doubt, the Lord met me with comfort and the truth of His word. He brought specific Bible verses to mind that broke down every fleshly reason I gave. The Holy Spirit revealed my lack of trust in Him and my selfishness. All I could do was yield. I said through a stream of tears “Jesus I give you my everything. If the World Race is the everything you are asking me to give then I will trust you in applying”.
Now here we are. Following, walking in obedience and giving my yes to the Lord confirmation after confirmation flooded in. Within two weeks the routes were released. After three days of prayer and fasting, I had two interviews and was accepted onto the August 2025 squad. The Lord has been so gentle and kind. He has replaced every fear with peace and every worry with excitement. I’ve continued to go back to the truth that there is no room for fear in our lives when we trust who God is. Truly the safest place to be is in obedience to what God is calling me to. Now just a few months later there is not an ounce of me that can imagine doing anything else with my life. God is so good, and he knows me so well. Seriously, Jesus is so worthy and deserving of our praise.
Thank you for reading and I cannot wait to see Christ magnified through the World Race!
Grace
