Five and a half months.
That is half way through the World Race and that happens to be soonish for Q squad. (We don’t know when we are going home, so we round to December 15/16.)
With that said, I can say right now that I’m going home different. I have changed so much on the race.
For starters, I’m no longer afraid of squatty potties or port-a-potties. When that’s all you have to use for a month you get over things quickly! I have the proper technique down now.
I’m accustom to change by now. Every month we move. There’s a new language, new culture, new accommodations, new everything minus the people and the pack. There’s no way to avoid change.
Along the same lines, I’m more flexible. Example for our latest travel day: We are going to leave at 10 AM. Insert text around 10 AM from the driver picking us up. We are now leaving at 3 PM. Insert trip to the mall to get all the internet we could. Insert more calls and texts. We are now leaving at 4 PM. We are now leaving at 4:30 PM. We are now leaving at 5 PM. The bus arrived at 6 PM. That’s my new normal. Flexibility is key to living on the race.
But on a more serious note, God have been teaching me so much. He has taught me to listen and hear His voice. That’s right, I hear God talk to me. It’s not an audible voice, but God gives me words and visions. Every month as we travel to the next country I ask God for a word of the month. And, since it usually takes a long time to travel (check out a #traveldaze blog), I have plenty of time to soak in God’s voice. Every month He has given me a word. It’s even more fun to hear His voice when it’s for other people. Before the race, I didn’t think this was possible. Why would God speak to me? Now I can easily say because God is that great, obviously.
God has also taught me about myself. On the race I’ve learned that I have a voice. I never really used it pre-race. I found myself trying to go with the flow and with the majority. I was a people pleaser. I didn’t want to upset others, so I would use their voice.Now I have a voice. I don’t follow and I don’t give into what others are saying. I have a voice and it matters. I realized that people have missed out on really knowing me because my voice was absent.
With my voice (and the race) comes boldness, a boldness of words and action. When you are only in a country for a month and you don’t know if you will ever see the same people again, you tend to go all out. This is actually something that I have been stepping into recently. The Kingdom doesn’t have time to waste and neither do I. I only have a month to build a relationship and speak truth. I want to share as much as I can about the Lord. There is an added sense of urgency because I want to see everyone I meet again. Maybe not here on earth, but in Heaven.
This is only a snap shot of how I’ve changed on the race thus far. The best part is I have another five and a half months to change and grow even more!
