Tonight is the first night of Launch, and I'm supposed to be writing my last blog for the next few days as we are entering a media fast in order to learn to be fully present in the moment (a practice I am very familiar with due to my previous yoga teacher training. I'm excited for the opportunity to be fully engaged in the moment, and not worried about what's happening on Facebook, or what witty quip my friends have most recently posted on twitter.
The problem with writin this blog, however, is that I'm typing it on my phone. My computer REFUSES to connect to the very-available-with-full-bars hotel Internet. And so…
WELCOME TO THE RACE!
World Race: (noun, verb) The trip to end all expectations, unearth unspoken/unacknowledged expectations, and re-route comfortable and familiar perspectives.
And so here I am, attempting to write a thought-provoking blog on my teeny iPhone screen. I, as the writer, must accept less than perfect typing conditions and you, my readers, must accept the inevitability of punctuation, grammar, and typing errors. Thank you, ahead of time, for your kindness.
i really just wanted to take this opportunity to remind you, and myself, of this incredible opportunity I've been presented with. I've felt the tug on my heart for awhile now that this would be a very different year in my life…and I believe the difference is that I'm being called to reckless abandonment. I'm being given the opportunity to choose to live this year sacrificially and in self-denial. This is a year to learn that MY comfort, MY rest, MY desires and hobbies and wants are just not as important as someone else's. I have the incredible opportunity to put others above myself, to serve with every inch of my energy and focus, and to honor others in ways I have never before attempted, due simply to my selfish and needy nature. I know there will be moments-probably many, many of them- where I am hot or hungry or exhausted and I just don't WANT to care. But my sweet Papa, in all His sovereign omniscience, knows what's on the other side of my opportunity to deny self and love someone else. And that is freedom and newness. This is what I want for myself: not comfort or favorite food or personal enjoyment. I want to be made new. I want, at the end of this year, to be a different person, full of love and grace and abundant joy- the kind that only comes from complete and reckless abandon of self and to God.
So there you have it. Who knows what Papa has in store for me over the next 11 months? I only pray that it is opportunity after opportunity to grow and love and deny myself for the benefit of others, His precious children and my lovely brothers and sisters.
To God be the glory. All glory. Amen.
