I think most of us are raised with preconceived notions of the choices we’re supposed to make. We waste so much time making decisions based on someone else’s idea of our happiness.
The race has freed me from so many preconceived notions that others had placed on me; Freedom began in early September when I finally expressed my discontent with what seemed to be everyone else’s plan for the upcoming years. I distinctly remember the overflow of tears in my eyes, as i tremulously uttered those cursed words in today’s culture, “I don’t want to go to college next year.”
As my mother as a witness, I can swear that it didn’t come out so smoothly. In the brokenness of breath, I gasped for air, in return my body let out a burst of tears. In the moment, I felt as though my heart was overpowering my brain, and logic should always dominate emotion…But maybe thats where we have it all wrong. Maybe its the fact that we suppress our hearts, and try to simply exist by the ideas of these frazzled, susceptible minds. To live in alignment with our hearts is to experience deeper loves, deeper joys, and deeper risks because God doesn’t ask us to step back and examine all the facts. He asks us to not to wait around or to ponder, but to simply just jump because our hearts acknowledge that he is the ONLY right we need.
Oh my, how my heart breaks at the missed opportunities I have had in this past year to encourage the jump. Every other text, phone call, or comment of encouragement seemed to have the attached, ” I wish I could do something like this”, and my response to that is follow the passion of your heart. HECK to the YES you can do this. Anyone can do this. I am not the first of my kind and I will most definitely not be the last, but the impressions this course of life will make on me will shape and mold me into the creation God has set out.
It’s been a continual uphill battle of choosing to jump rather than examine, but I can earnestly say in all the logic I have sacrificed I have begun to experience true life within Christ.
As the first phase of the race, Training Camp, has come and gone I have felt God beckon me deeper into a vast, wide river of abundant adventure, laughter, and love. I’ve slept under the stars with forty of my new best friends, found strength both physically and emotionally, i’ve learned to let others take care of me, picked up a few swing dance tricks, tried some “exotic” dishes, learned to haggle like a pro, learned how to support my community over the next nine months, dove into a routine of spiritual disciple and self care, and even did some literal cliff jumping.
I’m thankful for that September jump, and the jump before that, and the one before that, and the continuous intercession of God to bring me to these points to be able to choose his freedom and fulfillment.
God of mercy sweet love of mine
I have surrendered to Your design
May this offering stretch across the skies
And these Hallelujahs be multiplied
So if you are thinking of being a jumper, quit thinking, and jump. Jump. I pray that the outcomes will reap the fruits of an abundant life. Abundance may be the World Race, or abundance may be a new job, the mending of an old friendship, even the sight of the sunrise. May our hearts cry out for more of the eternal in these fleeting moments.
“For the thief comes to steal and destroy, but I have come so that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
