 Last summer, I went to Ireland. For five weeks, I had the time of my life with some of the best people I have ever met just doing what needed to be done. You need me to paint a few walls? Great. You need me to help you make a garden? Yes. You need me to just sit here and hang out with you and your kids? Abso-freaking-lutely. I had the best time of my life in Ireland and I miss it everyday, but I have a confession to make. At first, I wasn't sure that I wanted to go. I know, who wouldn't want to go to Ireland? Looking back, I don't know why I was so hesitant, but hind sight is always 20/20 or whatever.
When I first applied to lead an Action Team through Azusa Pacific University, I wanted to go to Lebanon. That trip incorporated relationship building with journalism which is what I want to do, for goodness sake. Lebanon was also in a part of the world that was completely foreign to me and I wanted to go see and learn all that I could. It was also pretty near to an area that was in the middle of a war and the self destructive person inside of me wanted nothing more than to know what that was like. Well, I got a call from the Center for Student Action, who organizes all these teams, telling me that they really thought I should go to Ireland. Now I was polite on the phone with them, but afterwards I called my dad and was not so polite. I kept asking him, "Since Ireland is not somewhere where I even though about going, should I still go?" My dad, being who he is, was very vocal about the fact that he didn't want me going to Lebanon, so Ireland sounded great to him. But he also told me that I had to pray about it before making a decision. Duh. So I prayed about it. God definitely knows that I am not the kind of person who needs some huge sign from him to figure out what he wants me to do. All I felt after this period of prayer was a little nudge and a single though going through my mind: If I wasn't supposed to do this, it wouldn't already be happening. When I first applied to be a leader, I didn't do it because I thought it would be cool and exciting, I did it because something literally possessed me to. One second some girl on campus was handing me a flyer and the next I was filling out the application. What I had to do was get over what I wanted and to do what God wanted and what he wanted was for me to just go. Like I said before, I had the time of my life in Ireland and it taught me so much about who I am and who I want to be. So naturally, when it comes to reapply, I go for Ireland again. Why wouldn't I go to Ireland again? Well, I'm not going to Ireland again. When I got the call offering me the San Francisco team, I was heartbroken. How could I live without going back? I'm surviving just fine, by the way. But to be honest, I was either expecting a yes, you're going back or a no, you're not going anywhere. Never did it occur to me that I would be going somewhere else. Oh does the Lord like to mess with me. Now that I look back a little, San Francisco makes sense. I'll be working with transient youth, which translates to homeless hippies in Haight-Ashbury. This is perfect for me in a different way that Ireland was perfect for me and that's probably because God picked it and not me. I've settled into the fact that I'm going to San Francisco and now I am extremely excited. This is a whole new experience. I get to live such an incredible life because I've decided to just go. Let go and let God, am I right? If you are interested in helping me on this journey financially, you can donate to me and my team. (Team San Francisco, Josephine Jimenez) |
