When I started with Global Challenge I said: I am giving up a year of my life to serve God and to work for Him.
I am honestly sick and tired of that mindset!
This is not "just one year". This is part of life. Giving up and over to God is not needed for just one year. It's not like: Wow okay I give up one year and then I can live the rest of my life in the way I have planned. NO! I don't just give one year. I lay down my whole life. It's not just one year of being uncomfortable and away from my family and then I've done my part and 'served my time'.
No! Heck no! Jesus wants it all! And He is worth it!
There is a difference between laying down and giving up. When you give up it's like you are entitled to what you have and who you are. When you lay down it is giving to God that which is not yours anyway.
We have too many plans for our own lives without even thinking about asking God if it's what He wants. One of my favourite verses in the Bible is Psalms 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." I realized that when you delight yourself in the Lord, His desires become your desires.
I had to make a decision and it was difficult to get there. But it's made: I am laying down my life, friends, family, my future husband, my children and my career.