It’s funny. On my first World Race, I managed to lose one (just one) thing. It was my iPod Touch. I left it on the bus in Vietnam that dropped us off at the airport to start our travel to India. I was sad, yes, but I didn’t let it get me down mainly because my Dad was bringing me a new one a month later when he came out to our Parent Vision Trip.
I learned and grew a lot on my first Race. I used that Race to runaway from my past, but it was on the Race that God made me face it head on for the very first time. It was hard. It was messy. But it was needed for me to truly experience His forgiveness, His redemption, and His greatness. I couldn’t share those things I’d encounter on the field if I didn’t first have them myself. That pretty much sums up my first Race. God knew that was all I could handle at the time. That was portion for those eleven months; however, I think losing that iPod was a foretaste of what God was going to teach me on my second World Race.
This Race has taught more about dependence on the Lord than ever before. Within the first three months in Guatemala, I managed to lose my iPhone 5S and my entire pack (including all of my Exofficio underwear) leaving me with only the clothes I was wearing and my daypack which had all the important things in it like my Passport, computer, GoPro, and most importantly, my GoPole. I was blessed; however, it hasn’t stopped there. I left my Team Phone and my hard drive (which contained all of pictures from my first Race and every episode of "The Golden Girls") on the airplane that took us from Guatemala City to LA. Once we finally got to Bangkok, I lost my replacement iPod at the mall. It’s starting to get comical. Part of me thinks there is a Gamemaker making all of this happen in my own little Hunger Games.
My first reaction to losing all of my stuff was, “Well, I need to replace all of these things!” Then, God asked me, “Do you REALLY?” You see, I found joy in all of those things, the same joy that I should’ve found in the Lord, and in Him alone, from the very beginning. Of course, I’ve replaced a few needed things like shoes, underwear, and a few more clothing items; however, I have decided to live only out my daypack instead of finding a new big back. I know that if I got a new big pack, I’d fill it with things, things that could potentially replace my joy in the Lord.
The Sunday after I lost my big pack, I went to church, and the song they were singing was “One Thing Remains”. No matter what goes away in my life, the Lord always remains. He is constant through the trials. Why would I want to put my joy in such measly, earthly things when they could disappear without any notice? I choose to put my joy in the Lord. I’m fully embracing what the Lord is teaching me about His goodness through all of this.
“Not that I was every in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever i have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:11-13
