Can I Share Your Story? (Amanda’s Story)

 

When I applied for the World Race I had an interview over the phone. During that call she asked about my relationship with my sisters. I told her it was pretty non-existent. We loved each other, but we didn’t know each other at all and it didn’t seem that anyone really cared to change that either. She asked me, “Would you want to change that?” I thought about it for a minute. I said that I would, but that I couldn’t see how to even begin. She told me that she would be praying for us. I had no clue at the time, but the Race would play a big part in the restoration of our relationship.

I guess it was around month 4 of my World Race when I got an email from my sister, Amanda. Along with other things, she wrote that through my blogs she had begun to realize I had changed into a person that she didn’t know. She had no clue who I was or when I became this person. It was then that we decided to start working towards having some sort of relationship, though neither of us knew what that could look like since we were a world apart. Throughout the rest of my race, we tried to keep in touch and keep each other updated. 

In month 9 I knew once I arrived home I felt that the Lord wanted me to go visit her, but I didn’t know when or how. When I came home, I was broke and had no clue how I could financially make it to Austin to see my sister. It had been about 7 years since we had spent any significant amount of time together, but it didn’t look like that was going to change anytime soon.

I knew that the WR America route was going to go through Austin, but, at that time, I was still planning to do CGA and wouldn’t be with the team until July. Austin was scheduled for April. I was going to miss it completely. It was my decision to listen and follow the Lord, by leaving in January with the team, that even allowed me the time to spend with my sister. 

Upon arriving in Austin, we are told by our host that our ministry that week was ATL. (Ask The Lord) I knew immediately that my main priority was to spend time with my sister. I had known long before that this was something He was calling me to invest my time in, and now he had given me the space to do that. I looked up where my sister lived versus where we were staying and immediately realized that it might be a little harder to make that happen than I thought. We seemed to be on complete opposite sides of the city, but I messaged her anyway to find out when or if we might be able to make it happen. 

That is when I find out that when she moved houses, she actually moved across the city. We were exactly one highway exit apart from each other. The Lord not only put us in the same city, but he put us so close to one another that we were able to meet up the very next day. 

Over the next two days, we spent time hanging out and catching up. We didn’t do anything monumental, but we just got to be together. That was enough for me. I felt like I had a breath of fresh air, and was exactly where the Lord wanted me to be. It was at dinner the last night we were together when our conversation lead to me asking if I could share her story. I specifically asked her to tell me about her faith and what she believes in. This is her story…

 

We were raised in a Christian home, but it really wasn’t until college that she really started getting involved with church. Her involvement wasn’t because of her own faith but because that is what her friends did. She went to a Christian university and all her friends were highly involved within the local church. To be able to spend time with them, church was a must, so Amanda ended up going to church regularly. Though she might not have started going for her friends, she quickly had a change of heart and started to really desire a relationship with God. I distinctly remember going to church with her at some point during this time of her life. She even was involved in missions. At one point, she was convinced she was going to be a missionary to Egypt.

It was at this point that she felt like she was supposed to move in with some of the women she went to church with. What was being taught at the church aligned with what Amanda had already known to be true of God and she was wanting to go deeper into understanding her faith. She thought that this community was going to be the place to do that. She moved into a house with 7 other college age women who were a part of her church community, but it quickly became evident that this was not going to work out.

Amanda was 21 at this stage of her life and she was still learning who she was. She smoked, drank, cussed, had a boyfriend who didn’t go to church, etc… Those may not sound like a big deal, but at that time they were a huge part of who Amanda was. So you can imagine how much it must have hurt to have 7 people say that who she was wasn’t okay. That she needed to change. These women she chose to live in community with started pushing their own convictions of what a “Christian” should look and act like onto Amanda instead of letting her decide what the Lord had to say about these parts of herself. Instead of feeling encouraged by the church, she felt attacked. She now felt like she had to choose between herself or the church, so she chose herself.

In making that decision, she decided to take a huge step away from anything that had to do with church or faith. She did a 180 and dove head first into the partying scene. She said that in college she spent a lot of time trying to figure out who she was. So she tried a lot of different things. It was in the party scene that she actually found the freedom to explore different faiths. She met some Wiccans during that time of her life and explored that. Soon she realized the same thing began to happen. You see at first they all seemed to accept her as she was but soon they too started wanting her to change. So she ended up leaving that group too and started searching to define what she believes for herself. 

Amanda believes in love and that love can be different things to different people. Her call in this life is to love others. It was at this point that I started asking questions…

 

Me: Do you believe in God?

Amanda: Yes, but it’s more complicated than that. 

 

 M: Is your God the God of the Bible? 

A: Which one? The God in Genesis and the God in Revelation are not the same?

 

M: Do you believe in Jesus? 

A: I could say yes and be telling 100% the truth, while at the same time say no and be telling 100% the truth.

 

We went on like that for a while. Me asking questions and her answering. I was wanting to get to know and understand where she was coming from and why she believes what she believes. I feel like after this conversation I understood my sister more than I ever had before. There are things about our faiths that are very similar, but there are also big differences as well. There are parts about my faith that I have to look deeper into because of this conversation and, for that, I am so grateful. Though we may not agree on everything, the respect and love for one another rises above everything else. She is my sister and I love her dearly.

This is why it is so hard to write about what World Race America looks like. It’s so incredibly personal. It’s people’s stories, testimonies, and lives. It is having conversations with people and walking away knowing that they don’t agree with you in faith. Its respecting faith that you might not agree with while still standing firmly in our own; It’s messy. It’s hard, but it’s worth it. There are so many parts to what this trip is and this is one of them. This is my favorite part; to sit and hear the hearts of others. I’m so glad I got to do that with my own family.

If you have any questions for Amanda about any part of her story, she has offered to answer anything you might want to know. Just leave a comment and she will respond when she can. 

 

Thank you to everyone who has and continues to support me in this mission trip. I am getting closer to being 50% funded, but still am a ways from becoming fully funded. I ask that you prayerfully consider partnering with me financially so that I am able to continue following where the Lord leads and sharing His love with those who need it. Any amount helps! Love you guys!