My favorite hymn

I’m 98 percent certain that my favorite hymn of all time is “Where He Leads Me” by E.W. Blandy.

            It can be found listed as number 164 on a page of a dusty, green Broadman Hymnal. The song is simple; a mere four stanzas that only span the length of a half page.

            Yet, its refrain has always been the cry of my heart:  “Where He leads me, I will follow; Where He leads me, I will follow; Where He leads me, I will follow; I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.”

            To me, this song has always had a deep, direct correlation to the mission field.

             Yes, if He leads me back to Mexico, I will follow. Yes, if He leads me to spend forever in Italy, I will follow. Yes, wherever into the nations He sends me, I will follow.

            Sounds simple enough, right? It was. Until recently.

            I will graduate college in one week…and the Lord isn’t leading me out of the country.

            No, not yet.

            Rather, He has a job prepared for me in Fayetteville, Ark.

            Yes, ARKANSAS.

            Three hours from my home and two and a half from my second home, the town where I’ve spent four years worth of university.

            I will be working at the Center for Missions Mobilization and will be directly working for a ministry called Campus Ministry Toolbox, where I will be helping its creator, John, create a comprehensive ministry resource for college leaders and student leaders literally around the world. I will be managing a blog, editing books, interviewing sources and writing, writing and more writing.

            If you know me well at all, then you know that this is the perfect job for me, as many of my friends have stated immediately after receiving the news.

            Yet, it is hard to follow Him to Fayetteville.  

            I love Mexico and Italy and my heart longs to go. So desperately. I have family and friend connections in those worlds and know exactly what to expect there.

            I have comfort in those places…but God does not call His people to comfort.

            I love Conway. My friends are here, even my best friend, who is originally from Missouri, is staying here after our graduation. My family is nearby and we are closer now than we have been in years. My boyfriend is here and I can unashamedly say that I love him and hope to marry him in the future. I have a wonderful church family here.

             Conway feels like home.

            I have comfort here…but yet again, I am reminded of Mark 8:34 where Jesus says to the crowd, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

            That is a command that I simply cannot ignore.

            So, if all goes well, I will be headed to Fayetteville in September or October.

            To the place where I have no church home, no friends, no family, no boyfriend. Nothing.

            I’d be lying if I said that my flesh didn’t want to stay here or that this will be an easy transition for me.

            But I have full assurance that I will find great things on the adventure that He has for me there and that Christ will be my stronghold, on the days that it seems that I have nothing else.

            Besides, I’ve told Him that where He leads me I will follow…and that All I Have is Christ.