Todays Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul

[Guest guest]

Faith Overcomes Fear

By Carlyon

" , wake up! " my mom yelled.

The big day had finally come, and for the first time in two months I

actually felt nervous. What had I gotten myself into? I was tempted to

pull

the covers up over my head and drift back to sleep. But instead I tore

myself

out of bed and began to repeat my prayer verse over and over as I readied

myself

to go: " The Lord is the one who saves me. I shall trust in him and will not

be

afraid. " I added, " Lord, you are in control of my life. Not my will, but

your

will be done. "

As my mother and I rode the twenty-minute drive to the church, minutes

seemed to stretch into hours as I tried to calm my nerves. I felt

physically

sick, but I knew I had to go through with this. I had worked too hard and

come

too far to turn back now. My mind was racing as I drifted into a daydream

about

how this whole experience had begun.

For many months I had been praying for the opportunity to travel on a

mission trip over my summer break. My prayers were answered. As my church

youth leader handed out forms for a group called Next Level Missions, I knew

this was the mission for me. Although the mission departed from a church

located seven hours from my hometown, and I didn't know anyone who would be

going on this trip, I put aside my fear and put my faith in God that he

would

guide my way. I was heading to Ixmiquilpan, Mexico.

Once I had decided that I was going to Mexico, things happened quickly.

I

began to prepare for my trip. The finances, travel plans and all of the

many

preparations quickly began to fall into place. I had my heart set on this,

and

I wasn't giving up. Never once did I feel nervous or afraid. I kept

trusting

in God that this was what He wanted me to do.

However, when the moment I had so carefully prepared for finally

arrived, I

was terrified. Maybe because it had only seemed like a dream until now, and

suddenly it was becoming a reality. It had all seemed easy before this day.

As

we drew closer to the church, I wanted to shout at my mom, " Turn around! I

don't want to go anymore! Please just don't make me go through with this! "

But instead I remained silent as we pulled into the parking lot. There

was

no turning back now. I hopped out of the car with a look of confidence on

my

face. As I walked toward my fellow travelers, I felt like I was invisible

to

everyone. No one said a word to me. Had I arrived at the wrong place? I

slowly pulled my luggage into the sign-up room. I looked down the list of

names, and there in black and white I saw my name staring back at me. This

was

really it. Before we said our good-byes to our families, we joined hands to

pray. I was secretly hoping I would never have to let go and that my mother

could just go with me. As I nervously climbed into the van with nine

strangers,

I somehow knew that my life was about to change forever.

These " strangers " turned out to be cool people. As time passed we

developed friendships, and by the end of our trip we were a family. We

shared

everything, from tears of sadness to tears of joy. We formed bonds that

could

never be broken. We learned that even though we were all different ages,

from

different backgrounds and different places, we were all here for the same

reason: to serve other people in God's name.

We spent two weeks in the mountain villages of Mexico. Our group put

on

church services, which included dramas, puppet shows and speaking. In

return,

we received so much more than we gave. The people there had nothing, yet

gave

us everything. They opened their homes to us, fed us and lovingly provided

us

their homes to sleep in. The love I thought I was there to " give " was

returned

a hundredfold.

I was so happy I hadn't let my fear stop me from going on this life-

changing journey. The passage I had heard so often now made sense: 'If you

choose to walk in faith, instead of fear, God will use you and truly bless

your

life.'