Right now, I’m laying in bed watching as Sista Fierce tries to help Ada get rid of things from her pack to lighten it. Laughter abounds as we argue over what is necessary and what isn’t. Rhema asks to borrow one of Ada’s scarves that was a hand me down from my pack last month. It’s community being lived out in the best way possible. I have spent this whole month with just the 5 women on my team. We have no hosts, or squad leaders or other teams with us.
The race is full of big moments. You will rappel down waterfalls and hang out the back of a truck bed to see the stars and climb mountains so high you can look down on the clouds. But what the race is really about is celebrating because Ada found her missing pink lipstick. It’s about cooking brownies on a stove top pancake style because your whole team is craving them and you have no oven. It’s about new friends from Denmark named Julie and bringing McDonald’s to hungry friends across town and sharing everything six ways.
When I think about Jesus’ life, I wonder which moments brought him the most joy. Was it the crazy big moments like when he walked on water or fed five thousand people or turned water to wine? Or was it maybe the in-between times; the times when he sat down for dinner with Mary and Joseph or when he had a good laugh around a campfire with friends? There is value in the big things to be sure, but what I just can’t get over is the way Jesus walked day in and day out with such incredible love. It wasn’t a grand gesture to him to love people, it was simply a way of life. Some days the people loved him and he loved them. Some days the people frustrated him and he loved them. Some days the people rejected him and he loved them. One day the people crucified him and he loved them. He lived fully in each moment, big and small.
People think that the race is such a crazy way of doing life but they forget that it still is just life. We are simply here to live the way Jesus lived; to love the way Jesus loved. The race is so full of big moments but I hope that at the end of 11 months I remember all these little things, these moments of community and joy and laughter that make up a life filled with love.
PS In order to continue on this amazing journey I need your help! I am still $294 short of my next deadline which I need to meet in order to stay on the race. If you wish to partner with me please click the support me link on the top of this page. I am so incredibly thankful for all the support I have received from everyone! I love you!
