God has Prepared My Heart
- katlynsaley
- Jun 19, 2014
- 3 min read
Back in September of 2013 I applied to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. Why would I want to do that you ask, with my soon to be athletic training bachelors degree from University of Wisconsin La Crosse? Well, the answer is quite simple actually. It's because I felt called by God. I was blessed with the amazing opportunity to go to Kenya with UWL at the beginning of 2013. I was extremely excited! I've always wanted to go to Africa. It was actually the number one thing on my Bucket List. But little did I know what would happen while I was in Kenya for 3 and a half weeks. The Lord changed me. He put things on my heart that I had never really thought about deeply before. And when I returned to the United States, I knew that I wanted to go back, but this time for a longer period of time. I wanted to serve people. I wanted to show people the love that God showed us when He sent His only son to earth to die and to save the world from our sins. God called me to do more for the underprivileged people in the world. So I prayed. I asked for Him to show me where and what He wanted me to do.
A few months later I knew just what it was that I wanted to do. I wanted to join the Peace Corps. However, I still wasn't sure if this is what God's plan for me was. But, with a lot of prayer and a couple of signs I think He sent me, now I truly believe this is what God wants me to do. So in August and September of 2013 I spent multiple hours on an online application so that I could be a volunteer the following year. In early November I was asked to interview with a representative in La Crosse, and later that month I was sent the email that I had been waiting for for almost a year. I had been nominated to be a future Peace Corps Volunteer. God had blessed me with the opportunity to move forward. That's not the end of the application process though.....this process has taken almost a year and it still isn't complete. It's almost become a waiting game for me, which only helps me with the concept of God's timing. He has the plans, and I need to trust that they will come when He wants them to. After I was nominated I needed to be medically cleared, have a background check done, and then I could be finally be placed. And that's where I am now. I have been waiting for almost 2 months to be placed in the country where I will be completing my 27 months of service. With the departure date that I listed as September 1st, you can imagine the anxiety I have had. But God had been there through it all. He knows I have no patience, so I'm sure that is why He is working on it for me.
Recently it has been quite evident that God has been preparing my heart to go and serve others in an impoverished place. Like I said the thought of leaving for more than 2 years, living in an unfamiliar place, with the possiblity of only having electricity "sometimes", leaving my friends and family behind, well the thought can cause some anxiety. But I know that God has set this journey on my heart. A friend in Kenya told me that "changed people, change people." She said that she was changed by her Savior and for that reason she wanted to change the lives for others. I can only hope to go and make the difference that this woman did. Go and live the life I have been called to live. So in this blog post, I ask for prayers. Prayers for anxiety, prayers for my placement to come soon. Prayers for my family and friends that I will have to leave in the United States. And finally prayers for God to use me for what He created me for. God has a plan for each one of our lives, and He wants us to live in His Image. The love He has for each of us is eternal, and that love is meant to be shared with the world. God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called.
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