Last week, I listed #2-11 of the strangest things that have happened while on the World Race. If you missed it, check it out here:
http://emilyholland.theworldrace.org/post/11-times-i-realized-im-on-the-world-race
For those of you waiting anxiously for my number 1, here it is:
1. All these things are normal.
It’s normal for me to be living out of backpack, drinking instant coffee, and seeing farm animals in grocery stores. It’s a normal response to pray over a room or a person when my spirit responds in uneasiness. It’s normal to be traveling and constantly asked why I’m in *insert country name here.* It’s so normal, and that’s what’s scary.
My personality doesn’t do well in normal. I’m not great at commitment. In fact, I thrive in spontaneity, in new and uncharted territory. My body feels at ease when there’s something to look forward to, something new to encounter. For a long time, the thought of going on the World Race fulfilled this longing in my heart, but now that I’m here, physically in another country, my heart is longing to look forward to something new again.
Don’t get me wrong, each country brings a whole host of new along with it. I love the thrill of new cultures, new languages, and new ministry, but even that newness is a norm.
Each day, I have the choice to check out and think about the possibility of life after the race or to stay present in what I am doing. Today, I’ve had a better time staying present, noticing the beauty around me and the ways God is working, but not every day is that easy. I’m learning to dwell in the here and now instead of the there and then. Some days, it leads me to a village of Turkish Muslim Gypsies, and other days it leads me to sweet families that love with all their heart.
This month has carried with it many stretching, new, and exciting things, but it has also carried a lot of repetition. Yet God has been so faithful in showing me new things in the midst of the same. While life on the race may be “normal,” his love is extraordinary and his heart for us is boundless. His mercies are new every morning, and my restless heart rejoices in this truth.
