Launch started with a run.
and a beautiful sunset to accompany it
A wonderful run, with a wonderful sunset to clear my head and set my mind at ease as 200+ racers fly and drive into Atlanta, Georgia
This is it guys! Day one of nine full months of deep diving into the Father’s character and love. It makes me sad to think that I will only accompany them for three months of their journey. While I can see the finish line already, i’m happily going to ignore it. Instead, I want to put my whole self into this short, passing time.
Launch is a really weird time for racers. It’s this awkward in between where the concept of traveling the world is more real than it a day before, but still slightly out of reach. I recall my own launch, feeling like I was simply going to step on the plane and be back in Portland. Imagine my reality check when I stepped off the plain in Central Asia..
Launch is hard, awkward and sort of scary but it is all the more settling of nerves. For parents that choose to come, they get a glimpse into what their child chose to postpone college, work, and other opportunities for. They get to put a face to an organization who so far, has done all their communication through their child. The photo above is of parents praying for their racers safety, and growth in the next year!
As for the racer, launch whirls by in an instant. One day you are in a comfy hotel with a TV and a shower, the next you have a bucket of water, your sleeping pad and that single book you brought because you refused to buy a kindle.
As a leader, I feel ready. I am feeling the tension of being in a role that is close in age to being a racer, and taking on more responsibility as a leader. I know what it’s like to miss home and yearn for anything familiar. However, what trumps it all is the eagerness and the hunger to get out of our cultural bubble and see what’s going on in the world. I see their faith and trust in the Father and it is bigger, better and far more important to them than the fear that might follow. There is so much that the Father has in store for Gap R and my leadership team. (The photo above is my leadership team during a thanksgiving dinner we cooked for one another!)
Keep us in your prayers! And I will keep you updated with as many photos and blogs as I can muster up out of sketchy wifi. I’m currently posting this blog from JFK airport in New York during a 12 hour layover (welcome to the World Race). Soon, we’ll be taking off to Thailand where we will be for the first leg of the race! Thanks so much for following 🙂
