You've stayed up to the wee hours of the night reading blog upon blog. Questions pop in your head – what will life on the race hold? How is living out of a 60 liter bag? Will my squad really become my family? You wonder what kind of stories you'll be able to tell. Maybe you'll have stories of seeing people healed, maybe you'll save a little baby from a dumpster, perhaps you'll witness 20 kids give their life to Jesus. The possibilities are endless – all you know is you ready. Ready to go to the ends of the earth to tell about the one you love, Jesus.
One thing you'll hear over & over again is not to hold expectations of what the race will hold. I'm going to say it again, don't hold expectations. Now I know, how can one not hold expectations? I wondered the same thing a little over 5 months ago. It's quite impossible when you read blog after blog & spend your days dreaming of the coming eleven months. I get it, I really do. So instead of dreaming of the blogs you'll be able to write, the pictures you'll be able to take, the different people you'll have the opportunity to sit down with, can I encourage you to dream about something different?
Dream about your relationship with Jesus. Place expectations of how you want to grow in your walk with Him. Do you want to grow in deeper knowledge of Jesus as your bridegroom? Do you want to begin to understand the power that's within you which is the same power that rose Jesus from the grave? Do you want to walk through healing from things in your past?
The blogs that make others say wow, the pictures that tell 1000 words, the stories you'll tell while laughing really hard – those will come. You'll experience bucket showers, you'll rough it, you'll learn what it's like to live simply. So you don't need to place expectations on those things. Instead place them in your relationship with Jesus – where you won't be let down. Circumstances on the race always change – your route, your teams, your ministry. The one thing that remains in Jesus. He is faithful. He sees our longings of wanting to go deeper with Him – to know Him more. He will meet you in those expectations. If there is one thing I've taken away from the race it is a deeper relationship with Jesus – grab ahold of the gift you have to dive into Him for 11 months. This opportunity may never present itself again.
