To the end of the age

August 11, 2021

Tomorrow morning I’ll be packing up my tent in Georgia and heading to Costa Rica with my squad for our first month of ministry on the race. Wow. Writing that made me cry a little. This week at launch has consisted of a lot of teachings, trainings in my role on my team, and preparation for ministry. It’s been awesome. It’s been tiring. God has consistently been reminding me that all the things I’m being trained to step into aren’t just for the race – its for the rest of my life. Not only because I feel called to ministry, but because as the body of Christ sharing His word, loving His people well, living in community, and accessing the power of the Holy Spirit is what we’re meant to do daily.

For the past week or so I’ve been reading the great commission on repeat.

“And Jesus came and said to them, ’All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

There is so much goodness in this verse, and so much excitement in the command to go. But what’s been hitting me hard this week is “to the end of the age” and all that Jesus promises me in this short phrase. He promises to walk by my side to the end, to love me to the end, to protect and provide to the end, to continue growing and shaping me until the end.

Today it hit me that after years of waiting, I can finally say I’m a missionary and not just that I want to be. When I wake up tomorrow I’ll be starting my journey of long-term missions and stepping into the calling I received years ago. The world race may only last a year, but this trip is just the beginning and the starting place for my partnership with God in missions. I’m so excited (once again crying a little as I write this) and I’m clinging to the promise that Jesus will be with me in this until the end of the age. I hope to learn and experience so many things this year, but honestly learning to sit in that promise is the most important thing to me.