Honest Truth #1: When I came home from The World Race, I didn’t want anything to do with it again.
Honest Truth #2: I didn’t want anything to do with it because I had built up a lot of bitterness in my heart that I chose not to deal with before I got home.
Honest Truth #3: Since being home, I have somehow ended up back in the backwoods of Georgia TWICE…and have loved every single moment… 🙂
I fought it so hard to not go to The Awakening back in September. I really didn’t have to either…I wasn’t forced or anything. But something inside of me told me that I needed to go, even when I was SO tempted to turn my car back around and head home where things felt “comfortable”. You see, The Awakening is a gathering of World Race Alumni and friends to remember where the Lord took us and where He is taking us. Understand why I wouldn’t want to go? …BECAUSE IT MEANT I WOULD BE SURROUNDED BY THE VERY THING I DIDN’T WANT TO DEAL WITH. Ha!.. God is funny isn’t He?!..and He knows just what we need. 😉 So, well… long story short, that weekend was the very thing I needed to give me the momentum and confidence to continue on my journey. And well, I’ll fill you in on all of that later 😉
For now, what I really want to share with you is about this last week of my life. I found myself in the middle-of-nowhere Georgia yet again for a World Race Training Camp for 3 new squads heading out in January. It was awesome to be at the same location as my Training Camp last year, watching new Racers stand in the shoes I used to stand in. Before I left home, I had been joking with friends that my duty was going to be to “laugh at the new Racers crying in their tents at night..” (you know, to ‘pay them back’ for making me cry in my tent during my training camp, haha). yeah, I’m cruel aren’t I? 😉 But instead of watching them cry, I found myself the emotional one! Remembering how far God has brought me in the last year and watching new Racers find freedom that they never thought they would ever encounter! Wowzers, God is AWESOME!!
I had the privilege of praying over and watching God break the chains & pour His freedom into some of the most amazing people on this planet. Men & women who are just beginning their journey around the world to pour into broken women & men who need their encouragement. Ahh, I am just SO PUMPED for these new Racers!!! And of course I am super pumped that I now have plenty of new blogs to stalk over this next year! woohoo! 😉
So, first on the list is a blog by a girl named Leah from one of the January 2012 squads. She described this whole ‘World Race life’ perfectly and I’d love to share it with you::
“Training Camp takes place
in the woods of middle-of-nowhere Georgia
where you’re kindly fed fish head soup, ugali,
and a grilled tomato banana and cheese sandwich.
Where you sleep in tents,
then on a school bus,
then under a tarp.
And you go to bed after midnight
only to wake up a few hours later,
before even a hint of the sun rise,
to freeze your buns off at morning exercise
running up and down the hills of Georgia.
Yep, these people are crazy.
Some of these people are alumni.
People who flew, drove, and hitchhiked
to spend the week at training camp
sleep deprived.
Serving us by scrubbing toilets,
waking up at 4am to cook our food for the day,
and praying life/truth into us
over and over and over again.
Their clothes never match
…I’m pretty sure they’ve forgotten how.
They saw greatness in me and pushed me towards it.
They’re ALWAYS either-
a. dancing
b. laughing or
c. praying.
These people are crazy!
Speaking of prayer-
Its like the real deal for these people.
Rarely …never… did I hear prayer start with
“Dear Heavenly Father”.
Usually it started more like
“Hey Daddy” or,
“Its me again Papa” or,
“Abba we love you” or simply,
“Hi!”
…It’s almost like they KNOW this guy.
These people are crazy.
They stand on chairs
Or in the middle of the woods on chairs
And yell things.
Declarations they like to call them.
These people are crazy.
During worship there are people
laughing,
dancing,
praying,
sitting,
and standing.
Some people have their hands in the air,
and others have their faces on the ground.
Yikes. These people are crazy.
These people dream about
shutting down every brothel,
ending the AIDS epidemic in Swaziland,
getting clean water for African villages,
seeing Haiti restored,
and finding a loving home for every orphan.
They dream about these things
because they’re actually living to make them happen.
I’m telling you-
these people are crazy.
Everyday normal conversation
consists of things like-
fire tunnels,
feedback,
declarations,
poop problems,
and ridiculously awesome
workings of the Holy Spirit.
These people are crazy.
And apparently,
after traveling the world for 11+ months
it becomes difficult, if not impossible,
to speak in full sentences.
Because of this,
everything is shortened by an acronym.
ATL,
OES,
TIA…
I guess I should start practicing!
These people are crazy.
These people actually believe
every word of the Bible to be true.
They believe healings are possible. Now. Today.
They believe that God breathes and life happens.
They believe we are no longer slaves to sin.
They believe that the power of Christ is IN us.
They believe and pray the same prayer Jesus did-
“on earth as it is in Heaven”.
And you know what…
I’ve started praying that too.
Because I actually really, really like that idea.
On earth as it is in Heaven?
Absolutely. Bring it on.
There’s no doubt in my mind
that those strange Kingdom minded people
who I met this week in the woods of Georgia
are absolutely CRAZY.
But what I decided this week is,
I’m ready to be crazy too!
The Kingdom of God is worth my abandonment. “
in the woods of middle-of-nowhere Georgia
where you’re kindly fed fish head soup, ugali,
and a grilled tomato banana and cheese sandwich.
Where you sleep in tents,
then on a school bus,
then under a tarp.
And you go to bed after midnight
only to wake up a few hours later,
before even a hint of the sun rise,
to freeze your buns off at morning exercise
running up and down the hills of Georgia.
Yep, these people are crazy.
Some of these people are alumni.
People who flew, drove, and hitchhiked
to spend the week at training camp
sleep deprived.
Serving us by scrubbing toilets,
waking up at 4am to cook our food for the day,
and praying life/truth into us
over and over and over again.
Their clothes never match
…I’m pretty sure they’ve forgotten how.
They saw greatness in me and pushed me towards it.
They’re ALWAYS either-
a. dancing
b. laughing or
c. praying.
These people are crazy!
Speaking of prayer-
Its like the real deal for these people.
“Dear Heavenly Father”.
Usually it started more like
“Hey Daddy” or,
“Its me again Papa” or,
“Abba we love you” or simply,
“Hi!”
…It’s almost like they KNOW this guy.
These people are crazy.
They stand on chairs
Or in the middle of the woods on chairs
And yell things.
Declarations they like to call them.
These people are crazy.
During worship there are people
laughing,
dancing,
praying,
sitting,
and standing.
Some people have their hands in the air,
and others have their faces on the ground.
Yikes. These people are crazy.
These people dream about
shutting down every brothel,
ending the AIDS epidemic in Swaziland,
getting clean water for African villages,
seeing Haiti restored,
and finding a loving home for every orphan.
They dream about these things
because they’re actually living to make them happen.
I’m telling you-
these people are crazy.
Everyday normal conversation
consists of things like-
fire tunnels,
feedback,
declarations,
poop problems,
and ridiculously awesome
workings of the Holy Spirit.
These people are crazy.
And apparently,
after traveling the world for 11+ months
it becomes difficult, if not impossible,
to speak in full sentences.
Because of this,
everything is shortened by an acronym.
ATL,
OES,
TIA…
I guess I should start practicing!
These people are crazy.
These people actually believe
every word of the Bible to be true.
They believe healings are possible. Now. Today.
They believe that God breathes and life happens.
They believe we are no longer slaves to sin.
They believe that the power of Christ is IN us.
They believe and pray the same prayer Jesus did-
“on earth as it is in Heaven”.
And you know what…
I’ve started praying that too.
Because I actually really, really like that idea.
On earth as it is in Heaven?
Absolutely. Bring it on.
There’s no doubt in my mind
that those strange Kingdom minded people
who I met this week in the woods of Georgia
are absolutely CRAZY.
But what I decided this week is,
I’m ready to be crazy too!
The Kingdom of God is worth my abandonment. “
**********
MMM…awesome, huh? I’m so thankful to be considered a crazy one!! 😉
