If you would have asked me, “Why the World Race?” eight months ago, I would have had various answers prepared for you. They all remain valid, but after postponing my launch date until January and wrestling through the waiting/preparation/fundraising period, I have a more concise answer for you. I wanted to share this today because maybe you need to hear this in order to do that thing God is calling you to do.
So, why the World Race? My reasons could be summed up by what my favorite author calls an “inciting incident.” In the book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller compares life to the components of a story; God’s story, in fact. I am a character, you are a character, the stranger in Starbucks is a character and the emaciated child in Uganda is a character. We are all living a story. Sometimes, we are ornery and refuse to do what the Author is trying to write us to do. Most times, we are too lazy and comfortable to live a good story.
I remember smiling knowingly when Miller wrote that characters must be forced to change: “Nobody wakes up and starts chasing a bad guy or dismantling a bomb unless something forces them to do so . . . Characters don’t really choose to move. They have to be forced.” I had never thought about that before. As a character myself, I know I am not naturally inclined to change. I actually really hate change.
I’m going to be honest . . . I struggle almost every day with my decision to go on something as exhilarating, terrifying, and unpredictable as the World Race. I cling to comfort like my life depends on it. When I think about possibly getting sick, or having lice in my hair, or not sleeping well for months, I start to question my decision.
Sadly, comfort is often an invisible chain that binds me to a numb life.
This is where the inciting incident comes in. “The inciting incident is how you get [your characters] to do something. It’s the doorway through which they can’t return . . . Robert McKee says humans naturally seek comfort and stability. Without an inciting incident that disrupts their comfort, they won’t enter into a story. They have to get fired from their job or be forced to sign up for a marathon. A ring has to be purchased. A home has to be sold. The character has to jump into the story, into the discomfort and fear, otherwise the story will never happen.”
The World Race is my inciting incident; the doorway through which I can’t return. I want the box I have placed God in to be completely shattered. I want to change to be more like Jesus. I want to experience life outside of the American Dream. I want to live a story more amazing than I would be tempted to settle for. So, I signed up for this journey called the World Race. In just over two months, I will be at training camp. And five months from tomorrow, I will leave America for Africa.
Although I find myself constantly battling fears, doubts, and insecurities, I have stepped through that doorway – the point of no return – with Jesus. On Him I must depend for this journey.
What inciting incident might God be calling you to for His glory?
Prayer requests:
1. Please be praying that God will provide financially for all this gear I need to buy before training camp in October! I know He will come through 🙂
2. Continue to pray for my financial support! I am so encouraged by how much has already come in.
