"Wait! You're going on the AMAZING RACE? . . Like the SHOW?! So you're going to be famous and win a million dollars?!!!"
And it's happened again. A case of the mistaken identity of precisely what The World Race is and why I am going. This is usually one's inital reaction when I say the name of the venture.
Or it goes like this…
"Like a race around the world? What do you get if you win?"
Or…
"They are PAYING you to travel and take care of people? How did you get that gig?!"
And then I respond with a ..
"Eh, not so much. I'm actually going with a missions program so I'll be serving the lost, forgotten, hopeless, hungry, etc while living in community amongst them."
To which one usually responds in one of these ways ..
"So, are you getting paid?"
or
"Oh, so not the amazing race at all. And you're not getting paid to go? How are you going to survive?"
or
"But,.. why?"
and then there's this response:
"That's incredible. I'd never be able to do it but I'm glad that you are!"
(but you can!)
Each of the reactions above have their own responses but it always ends up with a look of sheer astonishment.
People just can't believe that I would walk away from my life to go live in a tent, sleep on the ground, and eat with my hands (but just one in India!).
And sometimes I can't believe it either. One response always resounds through my head . . "but.. why?!"
It was the question ringing through my mind as I packed up the rest of my room today. Sitting there with my roommate, sorting through what I'm keeping, what I'm selling, and what she wants (benefits of living with me I guess -first dibs! lol). She looked at me and just said,
'wow tasha, I'm so proud of you. Look at you parting with all this stuff..'
And I just sat back for a second.
Have I lost my mind?
Am I going crazy?
( My co-worker did check my forehead a million times when I told her about the trip)
Have I gone insane?
There's nothing quite like selling all of your belongings. It kind of put things in perspective.
Ok, ok who am I kidding? It REALLY puts all of it into perspective. First, I look around at all this stuff I have that I definitely don't need. Then, I realize all of the struggling people in the world and I fall to my knees in gratitude and thankfulness for my blessings. And finally, I stand in astonishment at the decision I have made to follow my calling.
Yes, I am going to travel the world, live in a tent, sleep on the ground, and eat with my hands when it's permitted. Yes, I am going to probably go days without showers, wear a bandana everyday, and dry shampoo might just be my new best friend. Yes, I will be living in community in places so dirty I'll probably cringe and my OCD will be itching away. Yes, I won't know the language, how to get around, or fully understand why they eat what they eat.
but . . .
I'll get to love on the forgotten. I'll get to care for God's lost children. I'll get to hug that orphan that has never known a mother's love. I'll get to embrace the widow, the raped, the abused, and let them know that they are still valuable, loved, desired. I'll get to bring food to the starving, provide shelter for the homeless, and give some type of education to the ignorant.
I'll get to be the hands and the feet of our Father.
Maybe I have lost my mind.
Maybe I am going crazy.
and maybe, just maybe..
I've gone insane.
Perhaps that's all true.
But one thing I do know to be true is that
loving on the forgotten,
giving hope to the hopeless,
and being able to hold a child, a widow, a broken person and let them know that they are NOT forgotten, are loved, and are ACCEPTABLE; that they are GOOD ENOUGH...
Is enough for me to rid myself of all my belongings to get to them.
It's a hurting, broken, and lost world.
God's calling me into it.
<3natasha.
Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." Matthew 19:21
