The question that every Racer is asked in the anticipation of and upon arrival home:
What are you going to do after the World Race?
It is month 11 of my World Race, and this question has become more and more of a reality. This is my last country- I will be back in America in three short weeks! In some ways I feel like I was just getting on the plane in Atlanta, destination Mozambique. In other ways I cannot remember what it is like to not be on the World Race.
Before I know it, I will be back in the US- celebrating Thanksgiving with my family, visiting friends, and enjoying some comforts that I haven’t experienced in 11 months.
I know this is a question I will get again and again in my approach of the finish line of the Race and in my first weeks back in America.
It is a funny question to process after living 11 months of my life in such constant uncertainty and perpetual travel.
So this blog is written to you, people who ask this question; as well as my fellow World Racers who feel any combination of fear, frustration, expectation, or uncertainty with this question.
I can’t tell you exactly what life holds for me in transitioning home.
I can’t tell you exactly what job I will have long-term.
I can’t tell you where I will settle.
But, here are some answers I do have to this question….and I think these are the types of answers we should be giving to this question.
What am I going to do after the World Race?
I am going to keep pursuing intimacy and growth with the Lord. I have experienced new depths in hearing the Lord’s Voice, knowing His character, being prayerful, trusting the Lord, walking in obedience, and having a relationship with the Spirit. I will keep walking in this new depth.
I am going to continue walking in freedom with the Lord and in who He has created me to be. It has become a cliche phrase on my Squad to ‘be free’- but it carries so much truth! ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, so don’t be burdened any more by a yoke of slavery’ (Gal. 5:1). This has been a year of me walking out in confidence, in grace, in obedience, in humility, in my strengths, and so much more.
I am going to keep pursuing healthy, Biblical community. Living in community on the Race has been one of the hardest, yet most rewarding/joyful parts of my Race. We are created to live in deep community with our brothers and sisters. In calling one another out in our sin and needed growth, and in celebrating together.
I am going to keep seeking ministry and Kingdom building. Through discipleship, churches, local ministries, and hopefully employment with a church or ministry. God desires me to serve His world. I have learned that ‘no job is too small’, all things for the glory of the Gospel. I am excited to live this out in my daily rhythms in America.
I am going to keep traveling! Even though I am in need of some rest and a sense of rootedness for a bit, I love traveling. I love seeing this world and the ways God is moving in different cultures, languages, communities, and creation. In general, I just love exploring. I just need to save some money before I go anywhere again!
These are not the answers people expect.
Why is that?
We live in a society in America where your ‘success’ is measured by your stability, income, possessions, and status. ‘Doing’ is about doing something to move you further up this ladder of ‘success’.
When you live in radical relationship with the Lord, you learn that He does not measure success like the world does. It changes the answer to the question.
I’ve learned that the Lord cares much more about how you do something than what exactly you do. I am not convinced that there is this one pinnacle job you need to somehow discover and then you have attained ‘success’. Jesus doesn’t work like that. He isn’t watching you stumble through a maze hoping you will find the treasure at the end. He wants you to find out what you care about and where these things collide with the Gospel. Then, run towards those things. I am convinced that I could pursue any number of jobs or ‘callings’ after the Race and the Lord would be glorified.
There isn’t a secret formula, just walk with the Lord and understand your identity.
If you are walking with the Holy Spirit you cannot walk outside of His will, so don’t let fear creep in. Keep running towards Him and you won’t go wrong. He will get you to the right intersections and places. The Lord doesn’t lead us out to places and then leave us there- He walks with us.
I write this to challenge people in the their expectations behind asking this question. More than that- to ask the question, ‘what do we pursue in our lives and is it worth it?’. What are you filling your life with and is it satisfying?
This year on the Race was filled with a lot of discomfort and constantly changing pieces. From my immediate community, to the country, to the language, to the work I was doing- it was never consistent. I have gone weeks without a real shower, months wearing the same two pairs of pants, and days having eaten meals of 80% rice or bread. I have been uncomfortable living on the surface of the sun in Thailand and in the polar vortex of southern Chile.
Yet, it has been one of the best and most fulfilling years of my life.
That is because when you strip away all these false ideas of success and comfort, you find the life and success that Jesus created us as human beings to walk in and it is so fulfilling. You find that your contentment is in the Lord and following His Spirit. It is so much richer than the small box you put success and ‘doing’ inside of. Yeah, it can be a wild ride and take you to some unexpected places, but that is what makes it such an adventure.
I pursue the way I live my life differently because of the World Race, so I can’t really answer that question in the way you want.
So I have a question for you…
What are you going to do after reading this?
(pictured: wine country in Mendoza, Argentina.)
