Faith for Departure – A personal testimony

Let’s talk about dreams? I DREAM OF TRAVELING THE WORLD. Wow, what a treat to be able to talk about this and share this with you! Yes, my biggest dream today is to travel, discover new places, other cultures, delicious-smelling (and tasting) dishes, stunning architecture, and breathtaking landscapes. Not that I don’t dream of having my own home, a beautiful wedding reception, or graduating, but that’s the good thing about dreams: we can have several and change the order of priorities throughout our life.

That said, the start of my dream has a set date: December 20th.

Now, can I tell you about the size of my faith? I bought a ticket to Portugal for this year (Oh, what happiness! Celebrate with me, please). When I bought the ticket in March, almost all the borders were closed. There was no established date to vaccinate my age group, new waves were wreaking havoc, and I didn’t have the full fare. Crazy, right?

I confess that sadness and discouragement got to me sometimes. How could I travel with the entire world in tremendous chaos? But you know God’s plans are perfect. You know the size of our God and trust Him to always guide us in the best way when we allow ourselves to be guided by Him, right? I know you know how it feels. You may be worried about the future, but when you put everything in His hands, you can be at peace because you know He will take care of everything.

Do you know who helped me have this trust in God? My dad. When I would say: “Dad, the borders won’t open by December!” He’d say, “It’s going to work out. There’s still a lot of time. Have faith.” When I would say, “Dad, did you see that things got worse in Europe? This trip isn’t going to happen!“ He’d say, “Calm down, things are already getting better. Wait and you’ll see”.

If my father, who wasn’t even part of my trip, had such great faith, why couldn’t I? I put my dejection aside and went on to live my year (okay, my half a year, because I spent a few months worrying about it.)

August arrived, and with it, my turn to get vaccinated. I was excited at the prospect of being able to travel! So imagine my disappointment when I had to take Coronavac—a vaccine that wasn’t accepted by European countries. Another obstacle between me and my dream.

But everything changed in September. Portugal opened its borders and no longer required proof of vaccination.

I can’t say that my faith made things change and work out, but I can say that my faith gave me hope and peace to wait for God to act and fulfill His will. I’ve learned that that’s faith—believing in things we can’t see. It’s believing that God loves us so much that He’s able to make dreams come true. And that when our dream doesn’t come true the way we imagined, it’s because in His plans, everything will be even better.

I can’t wait to show you how my trip to Portugal was, because, God willing, it will happen. Can I count on you to follow along? Wait on the Lord because He will take care of you.

Now I want to ask you: what I had, was it faith or was I crazy?