I’m writing from Antigua, Guatemala!
It is so surreal to actually be here. To be honest, I really don’t think the whole experience has fully sunk in yet. From the other room, I can hear my squad-mates making dinner. Music is playing. A group of girls are laughing. Joy is everywhere.
This is my life!
I am so grateful! I know there aren’t many that get this particular opportunity. I, honestly, wouldn’t have this were it not for the generosity of all my family and friends that are supporting me financially, emotionally, and spiritually. I am taking it all in, savoring ever smell, taste, touch.
That being said though, I really want to share my heart. A lot of people said to me leading up to this trip: “Are you just so excited?? You are going to have the time of your life.” And yes, I am truly excited. I get to spend a year traveling the world! (Yes, please!) However, it’s not the biggest source of my excitement. My excitement isn’t tied to the travel or the experience.
So my question to all of you reading this now is “Are YOU excited for this year of your life?” If not, why not? It’s easy to look at all of us World Racers and think we are having an exceptional year of life. It’s easy to sit and read our blogs and think these are just stories that happen to those on the World Race.
But I’m telling you, we aren’t here just to have “travel stories” when we get home in December. There are tons of other ways we could spend a year traveling that are more immediately gratifying and way more comfortable. (Hot showers, anyone??)
We do this because we have been called to leave behind families, friends, jobs, homes, comforts, and securities. Here’s the kicker though, “we” are not just World Racers. By us, I mean the entire family of God. Jesus says to His disciples in Matthew 10:37-38, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Wow.
Now I don’t think Jesus is saying we all have to say goodbye to our families, sell all our possessions, and leave the country (although He might be). But trust me when I say, the best part of this trip is not the stamps in my passport, the unique food we are forced to eat, or the markets that have the cutest clothes. The BEST part is spending everyday in the presence of God.
But guess what! His presence can be experienced in every country, in every state, at home, at work, at school, in every corner of the globe. I do this because I have a passion to travel, and I want to offer that passion as a gift to be used by God for His purpose, not my own. The beautiful thing about God is that he has given us all a passion for something.
So my challenge to you this year: find your passion, offer it to God to be used for His glory, and you too will have the time of your life this year, and every year to come. After all, Jesus finishes His thought in Matthew by saying, “whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (italics added).
