(If that title immediately takes you to an SNL skit featuring Zach Efron, that's ok.)
Have you ever been so excited that you didn't know what to do with your hands? Yea, I'm there! Have you ever been so nervous that your feet felt like they were stuck in the mud, and to just take one more step forward would require all your remaining effort just to end up possibly face planting? Yea, I'm there too. When approaching the future filled with support raising and going, in one moment Im a runner in the starting blocks, and the next moment my knees are too wobbly to even walk. But the important fact is that God has given us a race, and its time for me to run it. And for that, I'm nervous, but excited.
Im nervous about:
- sleepless nights when my lack of trust produces anxiety
- experiencing rejection from some of my closest friends and family
- the frustration and loneliness that support raising and moving to a foreign context is bound to produce
Im excited about:
- seeing the hearts and minds of my supporters change as they realize God's call that we go to the least reached, including Muslims
- seeing a community mobilize around the Great Commission in a real, active, and tangible way
- learning to operate in a place so unlike anything I've ever experienced before, including fine tuning my Arabic while acquiring a foreign culture, and learning to follow and love my God better every step of the way.
Paul said he learned to be content in all circumstances thanks to the power of Christ that enabled him to do all things. I hope to learn to do the same in these next two years. Im nervous, but excited, and I praise God for both of those. Let's do this.