As I sit here, 2 weeks from departure, a “whirlwind of emotions” is a bit of an understatement. “The last ____” statements and thoughts are becoming the standard, and will only become more popular. There are still many people I’d love to touch base with before I leave, and my to-do list doesn’t seem to get much shorter. Ready or not, here it comes.
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This past Friday I went with a friend to Kings Island, an amusement park near Cincinnati, OH. Growing up we both frequented the park quite a bit, so walking around offered a good dose of nostalgia for both of us. Obviously, given my circumstances, that nostalgic sense seemed to be on overdrive. It wasn’t just the memories had, but the comforts soon to be left behind.
As our second ride of the day (after the newest ride Diamondback, which I recommend), we made our way to the Beast. Everything about the Beast screams nostalgia. To throw out some useless facts, the Beast opened in 1979 and remains the longest roller coaster in the USA and the longest wooden roller coaster in the world. It rattles your bones like only a 30-year-old wooden coaster can, with it’s 2 chain life hills and helix clocking
in your ride time at 4 minutes 50 seconds.
I should probably mention now that my mom is from Cincinnati and used to work at King Island growing up. She happened to be working there in 1979, and owns this neat little plaque that reads “I helped unleash the Beast.” If you ever find yourself in the control booth of the Beast, look up on the wall for another plaque with the original crew listed, particularly a “Sue Welsh.” Like so many places already in this world, a very real mark of familiarity has been left for me to keep coming back to.
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Essentially, I’ve been appreciating this trip as an opportunity to step out of everything that I have grown familiar and comfortable with, and see what God can show me in that discomfort, as a literal stranger in a foreign land. I will be pulled out my familiar bubble into a greater personal independence from ties here at home, while simultaneously requiring a greater spiritual dependence on the God who provides.
“Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember me” – Zechariah 10:9a
I often come back to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s words in “
Life Together“: “God’s people must dwell in far countries among the unbelievers, but it will be the seed of the Kingdom of God in all the world.” He goes on to quote Martin Luther:
“The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people…If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared?”
He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer” – 2 Samuel 22:2
In all the anxiety that will likely come these next 2 weeks, I pray against my selfish desires to be comfortable or “to be among friends” (of course, I’m still with the great friends of SHABACH!) but to take confidence that they Lord has called me out into these nations, and He is with me. True refuge will not be found in any of the comforts that I am leaving behind.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20
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And just in case you haven’t heard…
RITA’S FUNDRAISER :: THIS WEDNESDAY :: 7-10PM
3371 EAST STROOP RD, KETTERING, OH
