Sometimes I feel like life on the Race is like living in a trailer park in a high risk hurricane area. It doesn't matter how much you think you know about the hurricane before it hits, it always rocks your world. After it strikes, you are left changed. You lost a lot in the chaos of the storm, but you may have gained a lot too. All you can do is study your newly acquired treasures, prepare for the future hurricanes, and relax to the best of your ability in between storms.
At the risk of being the most dramatic, this is how I feel about the Race. Every month I go to ministry where my world is rocked. I meet people whose lives are in varying states of disarray. I am forced to step into abandonment as people and events push me into uncomfortable places and situations. I am challenged to reevaluate my goals and values. I take part in the growth of the individuals closest to me. I yearn for normality in frightening and painful situations. I grow from the areas of my life which are the weakest.
At the end of each month, I go to debrief. At debrief I am given a chance to step back and look at the changes that have taken place in my life due to the happenings of the month. I have to evaluate the wreckage. What is gone from me now that I had at the beginning of the month? Sometimes it's a shirt, sometimes it's pride, sometimes it's a lie or secret that I have been holding onto. Then I acknowledge what I have acquired through the month. It may be a cool new bracelet, a deeper understanding of the bible, or a wider capacity for wisdom.
In that short period of time between the end of one ministry/country and the beginning of another is the time when I gather my bearings. I gather my new, few items and sit back as I prepare for the unknown which lies ahead. And no matter how hard I prepare, how many facts I know about a place, stories I've heard, endurance I have built up, I am inevitably swept off my feet. The whirlwinds toss me around as I try to maintain what few things I have acquired, stripping me further of comforts and 'entitlements', lies that I previously refused to part with and more excess material items.
Occasionally, however, a tornado arrives unexpectedly during the brief resting time between hurricanes. This previous debrief involved a tornado, only partially anticipated. With dread in the hearts of my teammates and I, we prepared to say goodbye to our sweet sister Shawna as she returned home for medical reasons. Teary eyed and heavy hearted we waved goodbye and then immediately learned the results of the dreaded team changes, which had been rumored for days.
With great anticipation and progressively increasing anxiety, team Redemption Valley, already one person short, learned of more losses. As we begin this next month in Cambodia, my team will not be accompanied by Amanda or Abby as they have both been placed on other teams for optimal growth reasons. While Stephanie, Mary B, Kaitlyn and I are mourning the loss of our sisters, we are happy to be continuing this amazing Race with three new sisters, Jacki, Shari, and Michelle.
Our new (currently nameless) team is excited to see the things that will be stripped away and gained over the next five months as we continue our travels. We appreciate prayers as we mourn our losses and rejoice in new fellowship, and for continued strength as we once again prepare to be sucked into the exhilarating and beneficial whirlwind of this next month.
