“Draw near to Me, Beloved.”
I’ve been off the Race for a month now yet life still hasn’t slowed down. My wanderlust has continued to be quenched by travels to weddings, baby showers and reunions. I’ve told countless stories, answered an even larger amount of questions. And I have had to remind myself every day that the last year of my life wasn’t just a dream.
I spent the last week in Gainesville, GA at Project Searchlight, a retreat-like conference for the Racers who have recently returned home. We talked about what it looks like to transition well and move forward from the Race. We were asked to write a blog to explain to future Racers what reentry looks like so I began to think about what I would tell myself if I had to do it all over again.
1. Expect this to be an amazing year. Go all in. Expect big things from God. Sometimes we miss how He’s moving because we aren’t watching for it. Likewise, expect the best from yourself. Do things that may seem a bit crazy. Become an adventurer.
2. Celebrate the small things. Yes, bungee-jumping off a bridge in Nepal or walking with lions in South Africa are cool things. Naming babies in India and seeing a blind man get healed in Romania are miraculous. But only praising God for those things will make day-to-day life seem mundane. Celebrate the moments when you make a little kid laugh. Or when you find Oreos after being in the Bush for a month. Celebrating the small doesn’t take away from the big, it just creates a perspective of gratitude.
3. Remember: the best is yet to come. This may be my number one tip. I believe I had this perspective on the Race but it wasn’t until I came home I realized how true it is. The World Race is an incredible, life-changing experience. But if you think it will be the best year of you life you will miss so much.
I have felt God’s pursuit of me more since being home than I ever did in the Race.
I loved the last year. God refined me in ways I’m still noticing. He showed me things I never even dreamed of. But it wasn’t until I got home and made a conscious choice to continue to live in expectation of Him that He really showed me how much more there is. He pursued me throughout the last 11 months when being a Christian was my job title. He’s still pursuing me now even when everything around me is trying to say otherwise.
To me, it’s the acknowledgement of His faithfulness in the most unexpected times that says the most about His love for me.
