When I was a freshman in high school, I went on my very first mission trip. On this trip we worked with the homeless and did a VBS for the neighborhood children. When I got back from the trip, I had never felt more on fire for God in my life. I knew then that God was calling me to missions, I chased that feeling. I didn’t want it to ever go away. But eventually it did.

 A few months after that feeling left, I met a foreign exchange student. After getting to know her, that passion came back. So I made a new plan. I was going to be a foreign exchange student and share the gospel with the people around me. I didn’t care where I ended up, I was going to make it happen. I talked with my parents and they loved the idea. They told me “We will walk and God needs to open the doors if it’s going to happen.” As time went on, we kept hitting more doors, most of which wouldn’t open. After a lot of prayer, we decided that it wasn’t something that we could financially do.

 That was probably one of the most discouraging times I had ever experienced before. I felt as if I was no longer useful to God. I felt awful. I no longer wanted to chase that feeling, that passion that God had placed in my heart. So, I prayed. I prayed that God would use me. I prayed for an opportunity. I prayed for about a year before I ever got some kind of answer. The answer was Nicaragua.

 My brother and I were just hanging out when my parents called us into the living room to talk about something. So they sat us down and told us their news. Their news was, “So we have been praying for years that God would use us and He has finally answered that prayer. We are going to be missionaries to Nicaragua.” I didn’t even have to think, I knew this is what God had waiting for me. This amazing, wonderful thing that God had waiting for me.

 The passion was back. For so long, I never doubted that this is what I wanted for my life. Even better, I knew it’s what God has planned for my life. But as time went by, I thought I knew what was best for me. I thought my plans were better than Gods.

About a month ago I went back to Nicaragua. This was just a simple boarder trip to get our visas renewed, I was not expecting anything to happen. But God works in very mysterious ways. I came back from this trip full of a new clarity; a new plan. This “new plan” was not my own, this was God showing me what he wants me to do.