Serendipity: luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for.
The race is serendipity. Well… For me it was. Yes, I was looking for something but because I didn’t know what that something was and there was joy in finding the things I wasn’t looking for.
Our life is comprised of individual moments collected in our minds. Memories … Everything we know, every thought, every word we say, every emotion, a memory and the act of memorization. I am by no means a neuroscientist but from what I can conclude about the complexity of our minds it is that we are incredible beings capable of far more than we give credit.
This year I have found myself taking several snapshots in my mind. I take in a moment with my eyes and say “This. This moment. Never forget this.” The way the light is , the smell, the sounds , the feeling… And now I have these beautiful frames that dance behind closed eyelids as a reminder of everything I’ve experienced.
When I first felt God speaking to me about the race I knew it would be the scariest and most wonderful experience of my life at the present.
One of the first lessons you learn on the race is to drop your expectations. I’d be lying if I said I still didn’t have them walking into month 11.
There’s billions of people on this planet. And each person comes with the struggles of their individual lives. There’s so much pain, sickness, and death. There’s anger, perversion , and sorrow unspeakable. And everything is just bad , bad, bad. And what can I do? I want to fix it all and be things that I wasn’t created to be and I want to hug every child, feed every hungry mouth, and clothe every man woman and child. There’s so much. And it never stops. This year has opened my eyes to the pain in this world. I can’t pretend it didn’t happen, I can’t sit back and do nothing. There is always something to be done. There will always be people in your circle of influence that you will have the rare privilege to make a difference in those lives.
I’ve lived in a shipping container on top of a mountain in the Philippines. I’ve ridden an elephant through the jungle, floated down the river on a bamboo raft, and swam under a waterfall in Thailand. I’ve stood on top of Angkor Wat overlooking hundreds of years of history in ruins. I’ve visited the graves of thousands of Cambodian genocide victims. I’ve felt a tiny fraction of the pain, fear, and suffering they experienced as I saw their bones sticking up through the ground refusing to be forgotten. I’ve stood on top of a skyscraper overlooking a city that has persevered through war. I’ve seen the memorials and museums dedicated to the lives lost from the other side of the Vietnam war. I’ve sat on a rock in Malawi looking across the lake at Tanzania while my hair was carefully dreaded by my dear friend Happy Coconut. I’ve memorized the pattern of rain dropping through the trees and onto my tent. I have walked in African rain. I have stood on top of rocks and mountains that only storybooks could describe in Zimbabwe; perfectly balanced, defying gravity, and beautiful. I’ve seen nature reflect the strength of its inhabitants and I’ve felt their spirits unite in a sunset. I have watched shooting stars rip through the sky and I have gasped in awe at the beauty of the Creator and His creation. I have collected water from a natural , healing water, spring. I have climbed a mountainside to visit the cave dwelling of a man who once walked more intimately with God than many on earth ever have. I have stood in the ruins of a 6,000 year old city and marveled at the history . I have danced, laughed, and cried with Roma gypsies. I’ve painted Spider-Man on at least 20 precious little faces at a tent festival. I’ve climbed to the top of Dracula’s castle. I’ve lived in a country that doesn’t technically exist. I’ve cracked hundreds of walnuts and pulled dozens of weeds . I have shoveled many loads of dirt and sanded, primed, and painted many walls. I’ve had incredible discussion with the future leaders of Ukraine, in brilliant universities. I’ve sang (I tried) traditional Ukrainian folk songs for hours.
I have slept in more places than I can remember. I’ve spent more hours on buses, planes, and trains than anyone ever should and yet still somehow it could never be enough. I’ve eaten many foods and tried traditional dishes in every country. I’ve learned a few phrases in Tagalog, Thai, Khmer, Vietnamese, Chichewa, Nyanja, Bemba, Tonga, Ndebele, Shona, Bulgarian, Romanian, Russian, and Ukrainian. I’ve left a piece of my heart in every country. I’ve lived extraordinarily for the past 11 months.
I have lived and I am living in unending and in unfathomable grace. I don’t know why or how God decided I would get to do this, to be a representation of His love , but I am humbled and in awe . I never want to stop following Him. He’s crazy…. like nuts, absolutely insane. I like His kind of crazy.
I see all these flashes of faces and my heart feels like it’s in a million different places. Like at any moment it could burst and all that would fall out is a continuous chorus of halleluja’s and love unspeakable . How do you go back to your life? How can you possibly ever be the same?
It all seems too much. And some days I have to remind myself it really happened and that it’s not over because the The World Race is over. I must seek the opportunities in every day and I must continue to be refined by my Heavenly Father. I want In. Im still saying yes.
