Dear Current Racers: Month 5/6

This is what I know about the mid section of the race… Now not all of this will apply to every single person, but I know that at least a few of them will apply to you… hang with me to the end of the list…

I know that God is still moving.

I know that God is still using you, even with your attitude and your cynicism and your pain and your joy.

 

These are all things that I know because I either experienced them or watched people experience them during the whole race, but months five and six it hit the hardest. Those were the two hardest months on the race. More specifically month six. I wanted to ditch out on the race, on everything I had worked for. My fundraising. Everything. My team was waaaaay the heck in Sumbawanga, Tanzania. Many of us had malaria or other random parasites [probably new ones and ones leftover from central america]. It was our first month in Africa. It was exhausting. The race was exhausting. I was seriously so focused on the goal [going home, duh.] that I forgot why I was there. I used our internet stick every time I had the chance. I clung to social media and emails like it was my job. I cried. Sometimes I prayed, but mostly I didn’t. It was hard. I legit thought about going home, but I knew that I didn’t have the guts to actually do it. It is the middle part of your race, for many, the longest you have ever been away from home. The kind where it starts to get uncomfortable. 

 

Let me just give you a piece of wisdom. God is going to move in you. At some point, he will. He will do something that shows you more about himself and who he has created you to be. But you don’t know if that will be in month 6 or in month 11 or somewhere in between. This is not to say that he won’t move in you at home, but I KNOW that there is no other community like your squad and when God moves, you will want them next to you, to share in your heartbreak or to share in your joy. Months 5/6 are like the Wednesday of the race. They are like hump day. You have to get through it before you can get to the good stuff. When you make it through them, there is a new sense of relief that comes just from knowing that you can do it. The way it kind of worked in my head was once I had made it six months, I knew I could do five more because I had already done six. Take it one month at a time, one week at a time, one day at a time if you have to. But, seriously think back… 

 

Remember why you felt like God called you on the race in the first place. 

Remember your excitement and anticipation for this amazing opportunity that you had. 

Remember the moment you got you acceptance call. 

Remember the moment when you logged into your blog for the first time.

The moment you were officially a World Racer.

Read your “About Me” section again [have a good laugh at it]

Read your first couple blogs again.

Let Jesus reignite a passion in your heart for what you are doing out there on the field.

 

There is seriously nothing like the race. Dive into your team time. If it goes for three hours but you are laughing and getting poured into and loved, so what? Laugh at the little things. Spend time truly getting to know your teammates. They will continue to be your friends when you part ways at the end of the race. Trust that they are for you. Know that you are not alone in your feelings and get them out of your head and into some team time or on paper or into the ears of someone you are close to. Let people speak truth into the lies you are hearing. You are needed by your team and your squad. Every. Single. One. of YOU. Push through month five or six [or both] and it will be worth it. Don’t give up. You can do it. And above all, cling to Jesus. Cling to him like nothing else really matters, because really… nothing else does. Stay present right where you are. You don’t need to worry about what you are going to do when you get home. You still have five months of ministry in front of you. Don’t let your mind wander to that place yet. It isn’t healthy. Be right where you are, and don’t try and be somewhere else or you are completely missing the point of what God wants to be doing in you. 

 

If you are seriously struggling and just need some truth, please don’t hesitate to contact me or another alumni that you might know [or not know]. Know that you are loved by WR Alumni and we are praying for you guys and we love you a lot and will be eagerly waiting to welcome you into our Alumni facebook group when you get home. Until then, stay focused and stay present. 

 

You can do it.

I promise.

 

Much Love,

-A