On the race, we move from country to country in 30 days or less. As a squad leader, I move from ministry to ministry in 10 days or less. So it is vital that, as racers, our minds and hearts are ridiculously present, not caught in nostalgia over the comforts of home or the sweet orphan you held last month, nor looking ahead toward what you will need to catch up on when your feet hit American soil once again. One of the most common questions in World Race culture is, “Are you staying present?”
…..Well yes. Yes I am.
I’m one of the most present-minded people I know. So much so that the Race has been quite a test for maintaining my relationships back home. I find it impossible for my mind or heart to be in two places at once. I’m devoted to the now, to the extent of forgetting to post blogs, change my Facebook status, or send out supporter updates. And props to those of you who can sit and relive the fun adventures you’ve shared, the hilarious movies you’ve watched, or the word-for-word dialogue you exchanged with the love of your life when you first met. I remember concepts, not details, and experiences are nearly impossible for me to relive. So as much as I adore and miss my friends and family back home in Alabama, my thoughts are here, wherever here happens to be at the time.
When I began the Race in September, my Myers Brigg’s letters revealed that I was not a big fan of change— that I preferred consistency over adventure, schedules over spontaneity, and routines over surprises. I’ll agree— that was totally me. Choosing to leave the comforts and stability of a great career, a newly purchased home, and a retirement plan was truly an act of God. Nothing about my design was woven into that decision- the Holy Spirit is real, people.
Well now I’m heading into month 10 and I’m realizing something. Being here and opting in to this journey has changed me in a lot of ways. I’ve learned to embrace flexibility and roll with the punches. Surprises delight me and adventure is out there— or perhaps that side of me was there all along, buried deep under the idol of security.
Risk, adventure, spontaneity…. those things are all relatively easy to stumble upon on the Race.
But I refuse to let this be the best year of my life.
I refuse to get home and wait around for the next big thing to satisfy my longing for adventure.
I will find adventure in the here and now. I will find adventure amid the mundane.
In the words of my friend, Joe De Leon: “Life with God is defined in the mundane moments. And if He’s telling me that He wants to be found in the ordinary acts of doing dishes, shoveling dirt or fixing a gate, then I’m going to fight to find Him there. Imagine if we became a people that lived with the fullness of God’s presence everyday, in every moment. You don’t have to fly across the world for that.”
I am my Father’s daughter, and He has created me to appreciate and thrive in the adventure of The Gospel. If I start to believe that this life I’ve been given is anything less than an adventure, then I’ve lost my freaking mind. As Believers, we’ve been given the opportunity to live out The Greatest Story Every Told— to love beyond our capacity, to make disciples of all nations, to go against cultural norms, to experience the supernatural, to be bold beyond reason. We’ve been given an impossible assignment that we cannot fulfill without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the power of God.
There’s an unquenchable desire set inside every soul to be a part of something much greater than ourselves, and that something is The Gospel. If The Gospel is a reality in our lives, then adventure doesn’t cease.
