New beginnings. . .

"When God gives you a new beginning, it starts with an ending. Be thankful for closed doors, they often guide us to the right one."

I'm not sure where I heard that quote, but man does it hit home! If you've read my previous blogs or talked to me at all in the last year, you might know why. Just in case you don't fall into one of those two groups, let me catch you up.

It was just about a year ago that I began the process of applying for the World Race, I would get accepted, I would fund-raise, I would attend training camp, I would fund-raise some more and in January 2015 I would leave on the race. . . at least that's what I thought. I did get accepted, I did fund-raise, I did go to training camp. . . and then something changed. I wasn't sure what to do, I had said yes, I had come this far, surely God wanted me to continue and leave on the race, at least that's what I wanted. From that point on things got harder and complicated, you see, that's what happens when you try to push open a door God is closing. Finally in December 2014, 4 weeks before launch for the World Race, I said yes to God again and stepped away.

That was the ending, this is the beginning. Shortly before I stepped away from the World Race I was having a conversation with someone at Greater Europe Mission (GEM) about my journey with the World Race, they told me they looked forward to seeing me the day after what would be my launch date. What? Really? I'll be gone! Those are things I thought during that conversation. . . a few weeks later though, I found myself in his office, the day before my would be launch. I thought, it's too soon to be here, I need time to "grieve". But Bryan (the best dreamer of Kingdom dreams I've ever met) told me something that day that struck me, "Missions doesn't happen on accident" in that moment, everything that God had been teaching me through my World Race journey came into focus, intentionality. I left that day and began praying about GEM and all the different countries and ministries they work with and if I fit into one of those. A couple weeks later I went back into the GEM office with 3 ministries God had really drawn me to, to my surprise GEM had a ministry in mind that they felt would be a fit for me as well, but didn't want to place me somewhere God wasn't calling me to so they asked about my 3 ministries first. . . and because God is an amazing and good God. .  the ministry GEM had in mind was also one of the 3 ministries God had shown me!

So here I am, at the beginning of this new journey with God! I'm taking the lessons I learned through the World Race and am being very intentional in all my preparations with GEM. I'll be partnering with London City Mission (LCM) in London starting in August. LCM is an amazing ministry working in London to see more people across the city come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord by serving the least reached of London. You can learn more about LCM at their website, www.lcm.org.uk

Thank you for reading my ramblings, thank you for praying for me and thank you for being on this God journey with me! If you'd like to donate to my GEM partnership you can visit the GEM website at http://www.gemission.org/ and click the Donate tab, you can find me by my name or my ministry number of 09955. Excited for what God has ahead and excited to be able and share it with you. . . and remember, before you can have a new beginning, there has to be an ending!

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." - Lamentations 3:22-24