Imagine that you’re sitting in your car in early fall, windows down so you can enjoy the new smells of the trees and cool air that seems to come from the ground up. You’re making your way through a quaint rural town with your arm out the window, but the potholes and wide cracks in the pavement don’t make your smile any smaller because you’re so filled with delight that fall is finally here after such a long hot summer. The sun is setting on your left as you approach the railroad tracks. The old red and white striped cross arms slowly lower and the bell rings as the incandescent lamps flash that familiar tired red color. You see the train coming from the east, but you struggle to hear only a faint rattle of the tracks, aided by the vibrations you feel through the steering wheel as the tons of steel glide over the smooth rails. Your attention is shifted to the fly that’s buzzing against the windshield repeatedly, trying to escape through the impassible glass barrier. And all of a sudden, like you didn’t even see it coming, the sound of the train passing by only yards in front of you builds into a deafening roar that inexplicably excites you. Similarly, the magnitude of what I’ve committed to (The World Race) is finally catching up with me. I saw it coming, but I had no idea how loud it would be! Have I left yet? No, but I’m coming very close to being ready to jump on board!
Over the past week or so, I’ve come to the real life realization that I’m going to be leaving this incredible City of Austin, my even more incredible and expanding group of friends, the sound teaching and exciting praise music of the Austin Stone, and my life-long-career-worthy job. It hasn’t yet hit me that I’ll be away from my family for a year, missing all the major holidays that I’ve never missed before, and when it does, it’ll be a tough bullet to bite. It’s strange though, now that my brother’s gone, I feel like he’ll be playing a greater role in guiding my decisions than ever before. One thing he sure excelled at was treating people fairly with evident love and soft words, and that’s one thing I’m trying to adopt as I prepare to embark on this journey where I will encounter groups of people who need such words and love. It’s kind of scary, or intimidating, to think that I’m going to leave such an incredible environment that I should easily be more grateful for. But the knowledge that our Lord, Jesus Christ, is going to be with me every step of the way, answering my prayers, being my foundation, teaching me His ways, carries so much weight, I cannot possibly get bogged down in thoughts of what I’m going to miss. Like that unstoppable train, I’m building speed, and the Lord’s angels are laying down the tracks in front of me.
