There is Beauty in the “In-Between”…

Hello!

Update #2– In my last update to you all, I explained how my trip had been postponed to October 2020, a few months after my original leaving date of August 2020. As we have gotten closer, there is still a lot of uncertainty around my October launch and the countries that will be open by then. A couple of weeks ago the World Race organization, Adventures in Missions, gave my teammates and me the option to transfer to any future trip leaving in 2021. Adventures in Mission is still planning on sending teams out in October, but after praying and seeking the Lord, I have decided to defer my trip until August 2021. (This is one year after the original date that I was planning on leaving.)

 

*All funds that I have already raised will be carried over to my new trip leaving in August 2021. I am currently almost 50% funded based on my original trip’s cost! It is so amazing that I am almost halfway funded! I am so grateful for everyone who has been praying for me and who has contributed to my mission trip. I will still be fundraising during the coming months as I will be preparing to leave next year. As of right now, I do not know what my trip will look like or the countries that I will be going to. I will let you know when I find out 🙂 Part of my decision to defer to next August is to keep the Expedition style trip of the World Race. One of the reasons why I chose my specific trip was due to its focus to spread the gospel in the areas of the world that are the least reached. Hopefully, by leaving in August 2021 there will be more countries with open borders for this to happen. 

 

As I was praying about this decision, I felt like the Lord said that there is “Beauty in the in-between.” I have been feeling this tension of being “in-between.” I am in between college and my future career. We are all in-between what things were like pre-coronavirus and what life will look like afterward, and I am in-between the original plan of leaving on the World Race in what would have been 58 days, to now leaving in approximately 423 days. While the waiting times can be difficult, we can base our confidence in the fact that the Lord does not waste our waiting. Every season has its purpose and there is beauty to be found in every season. I have been thinking about some of the people in the Bible who had different seasons of waiting. David experienced an “in-between” season from when he was told he would be King until it was actually fulfilled. Joseph waited while in prison that put him in a position to interpret the Pharaoh’s dreams. Sarah, Hannah, and Elizabeth experienced times of waiting for children, and eventually, they had Isaac, Samuel, and John the Baptist. Psalm 34:8-10, says “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” While I have experienced a vast range of emotions, I am excited to follow the ways that I feel the Lord leading, even if that means staying in America longer than I thought I would. I am looking forward to discovering the truths that the Lord has for me here and discovering the beauty in the times of our lives where we are waiting. I am disappointed that I am not leaving as soon as originally planned, but I am excited God is leading every step and He does not waste any season. 

 

My prayer during this time comes from Isaiah 58:10-11, “if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”  I pray for all of us to become more aware of the ways the Lord is leading, that we would be filled up with the love of God and that we would be lights in the darkness. 

 

During my junior year of college, I had decorated my wall with some quotes from various people and I had recently found one of the papers that I had hung on my wall during that year. It is a poem by Morgan Harper Nichols and was an encouragement for me when I found it.

 

“As she waits for the future

She leans into the present,

For there are truly beautiful things 

To be gathered here.”

 

–Morgan Harper Nichols

 

It is simple and sweet but it was a reminder for me that as I am waiting for various things, to focus on the present by leaning into my current season and enjoy the beauty that can be found here. What season is the Lord walking you through? How can we all embrace our present season and find beauty in the in-between?

 

I have currently moved back to Redding, so if you have any questions or want to meet up, let me know!

 

With love, 

Elizabeth Kelley