Climbing without the safety net.

Day 3 of IMPACT | May 6, 2015

The past few weeks have been large blessings for me as I attended and helped out at the annual Archdiocesan Youth Day as well as began my mission with Catholic Christian Outreach. A common theme running throughout this time was just how much the Lord was calling me to grow in faith in Him and trust that He indeed has a plan (a GREAT plan) for me that will fill my future with hope and joy (cf. Jeremiah 29:11).

The past couple months were indeed difficult months for me as I had to make many difficult decisions about matters I didn't know too much about. The biggest of these decisions was going on mission with CCO. There was so much I didn't (and still don't) know, and the fact that I was unable to make a plan or envision the next few months was completely terrifying. As a person who likes a certain degree of routine and a certain degree of planned activities, this was completely out of my comfort zone and it was a difficult decision to make simply because I couldn't see what was happening. That's where the Lord was calling me to trust. I relied so much on the safety net that I set up for myself that I was completely unable to let the Lord work in my life.

In fact, even with just the past three days of community living, orientation, and my first experiences of mission, it is terrifying to me what could've happened if I said 'no' back in February and decided to take summer school instead to get ahead of my degree. I would not have met 38 other incredible missionaries from across Canada, who are all passionate and on fire for their faith and their relationship with Jesus, I would not have heard their stories, and I would not have gotten a chance to really grow in both my calling to holiness and mission. And yes, this is just three days into mission!

The past couple days have been such blessings for me. Without a doubt, this is something I know for sure now that God was calling me to do. I know there will be sufferings in the future, but the very fact is, the past couple days just felt so right for me, now it is hard to envision doing anything else with my summer this year because going on IMPACT, so far, now just seems like the no-brainer.

Looking back on this path of preparation to IMPACT, I am realizing now just how much the Lord sustained me and provided for me: in my fundraising, in my prayer, in my decisions, in my life in general. I had so much fear entering that the Lord has completely resolved or taken away from me now. It is hard to imagine doing this without the Lord's help or His providence. Looking back now, it is simply so easy to see so many of the events that the Lord had a hand in and played a role in. And for that I am grateful: both for Him and all the other wonderful people he sent in my path to support and encourage me during the preparation phase and now.

There is still so much for me to learn and I haven't even entered my parish with my team yet (we haven't found those out yet either, haha). However, I am so incredibly excited for what the next few months hold. The sense of community I am feeling right now with my 13 other brothers just feels right. I know this is where I am meant to be this summer and I feel so much peace and joy in realizing that. There are going to be many experiences I haven't tried and many roles I may be asked to play that I haven't played before - and I am excited for all of these even though a majority of them scare me. But I am learning to trust that the Lord will provide for me.

One of the things to the 'best summer evah' that our leaders suggested was to do something that scares you this summer. I fully intend to take that challenge: and it is with that boldness that I hope to approach this mission.

Pray for me and I for you!