Thursday night at training camp, our teams were officially
announced and we were given one simple directive. Go into town and make a memory together. I would love to tell you all about my
wonderful new team, which will be my immediate family for the next 11
months. However, that’s not what this
post is about and besides I don’t have to because others have already taken
care of that. To learn about our team,
Team JUDAH, just check out some of the links where my teammates have already
shared a little about our story.
No, this
post actually starts with Team Karis (Greek for “Grace”). Since most of the people at training camp had
flown in from across the country, there were relatively few cars among the 57 –
now 52 – of us. Team Judah piled all seven members into Elizabeth’s Honda (and
subsequently became the first World Race team ever pulled over by the state
troopers for that very reason. Hey, we
got our memory pretty fast)! Karis,
however, needed some wheels and I volunteered my car for them to take.
Let’s just
say they threw their gratitude all over my little car and it looked quite a bit
different coming back to camp than it did when they left! Again, I’d love to describe it to you, but I
don’t think my description would do justice to the actual photos and video
footage, so check them out! Well,
training camp now ten days removed, I have yet to wipe off most of the exterior
decorations of their team and individual names plastered on my back and side
windows like a “just married” car. And
while it was all fun and games at camp and I still don’t mind, I can tell you
that I’m definitely standing out like a sore thumb in my small hometown in
western North Carolina
whenever I go for a drive.
This just
got me to thinking about what a Christian should look like in every day
life. We should unashamedly stick out in
a crowd so that everyone in our lives should immediately know WHAT and WHO we
are living for everyday. Now that the
spiritual high of training camp is over, I know it’s been hard for my teammates
and me as we settle back into the ordinary daily routine of the “real
world.” To everyone reading this not on
our squad, I ask, “what about you? Are
you standing out for God, or falling back among the crowd?”
One of our
leaders, Gary Black, had one quote in particular that has stuck with me. He commented something along the lines that, “If
you’re bored, it’s because your boring. And when you live every day sold out for Jesus and building God’s
kingdom, life will never be boring.” There is always more love we can share and every day is a new great
battle to fight. So, my friends, I leave
you with this. Don’t be bored. Go, stand out!
