The World Race is not easy. Scattered email and Skype dates, constant prayer, and dreams and memories are what keep me connected to home. Sleeping on the concrete floor on my sleeping pad with a hole in it, under my malaria protecting bug net isn’t the most comfortable option. Wearing the same clothes every other day because it is what fits in my pack. Listening to the Lord when he asked me to buzz off all of my hair before I even left, regardless of what most everyone around me thought. Eating carbs in mass amounts because the rest of the world makes their meals around food staples, such as potatoes and rice, instead of a meat choice like Americans do. Trying to fight weight gain with the possibility of running (terrain and safety permitted), but running in hear that I will get a black lung with all the dust and pollution.
All of this to say…. And as hard as the World Race has been on me in so many ways… I wouldn’t change it for anything.
I wouldn’t change the fact that I get to spend 11 months of my life worshipping differently, seeing different landscapes, eating different foods, hearing different languages, learning different cultures, yet experiencing the SAME God.
He has sent me all over the world to bring to light the darkness I housed before, to tell me how much he really does love me, and to show me what the Body of Christ look like. He has given me the opportunity to spread his love and Kingdom this whole year, to people that I pray I will meet again in heaven for one crazy, joyful party.
I fight thoughts of comparison with other privileged, 23 year old, American women, who are carrying out their lives back at home, but am constantly brought back to the present by my Creator. That this has always been his plan for me. To spread his Gospel to these people in Tanzania, today. He sees the sacrifice I am giving up to be here, doing his work. He has been telling me lately how proud he is of me, and how excited he is to redeem this year in my future.
So while I am uncomfortable, tired, lonely, and chubby… I am seen and I am heard by my Lover, and he is so proud of me.
