In preparing for The World Race I’m beginning to get a
glimpse of what God will be working on in my life as I start traveling around
the world. Most of this realization came from training camp where I saw how
much of my life is not as functional as I thought it was. When I returned home
from training camp those dysfunctionalities were confirmed. So even though
there are plenty of things I need to still prepare, from packing my bags to
continued fundraising, I know that I will also have to start preparing my heart
before I can leave on this trip.
Before
training camp I thought my life was in well working order. I had plenty of
friends, a loving family, and a relationship with the lord. What more could I
ask for right? I started to realize that these three things that I treasure so
dearly were all lacking in one-way or another. Luckily training camp gave me
some tools so that I can deal with these very important issues in a healthy
manor.
I love that
God has blessed me with the friends that I have, but I’ve come to realize that
even though I am close to many people I have been seriously lacking in the accountability department for the last year and a half. Things that I struggle
with have gone unchecked for quite some time now and I started to believe that
it was no big deal and if I just ignored these problems they would go away.
Obviously this is very untrue and I recommend everyone who is reading this blog
to take a second and think about who is holding you accountable to the things
you struggle with most in life. If you can’t think of anyone at this point I
highly recommend that you find someone who struggles with the same things you
do. Trust me there are plenty of people who are in your same boat and would be
more then willing to jump in and do this life thing with you. Anyway God
blessed me with lots of new people who will be keeping me accountable on this
next leg of my life, Daniel Chantlos being one I’m extremely excited to be
living life along side with because of all we have in common.
In all of
the ways that God has blessed me, family is where it really shines. I love my
family more then they could ever know and even thought I feel this love for
them I still hardly show it. Training camp made me realize how easy I’ve had it
my whole life and even though no one in my family is perfect, they all deserve
the love and respect that I have neglected to give them. Family truly is a
special thing and I pray that I grow closer to them everyday even though this
next year I will be farther away from them then I ever have.
relationship with God are two things I never really put together. I know that I
have some sort of a relationship with God because I believe that he came to
earth in the form of Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died for my sins. Since
that has happened I’ve lived a carefree life semi-trying to live like Jesus
knowing that when I mess up it’s all ok because God will just forgive me. Now
even though this is true, I don’t believe that this is what God had in mind
when he said he wanted to have a relationship with me. This is where faith
comes in. Unworldly faith is not something that you just get magically overnight it’s something you have to work for everyday. I plan on reaching a whole
new level in my faith on this trip, and I know it’s going to take a lot of work
and that work starts now. From now on I want to look back on everyday and if
I’ve done nothing else but worked on my faith a little bit I’ll consider it a
success, and days where I fail in my faith I want to realize it and have people
keep me accountable and family who will love me regardless.
Myself, Sheila Yoder, and Charlotte Anderson
