I haven’t had much contact with the outside world since being in the Dominican and to be honest, it has been so rejuvenating. The Lord has been using this month to bless and refresh me so immensely. It’s wild to think that in exactly one week I will be back home in California and everything that has grown so normal to my everyday life over the past 15 months will all change.
This month I am living with all 41 of my squad-mates on Hope Mountain, surrounded by lush rainforest and complete serenity. While you might think living on one compound with 50 people and sharing a bedroom with 15 girls sounds like complete chaos, it’s simply wonderful. Now there definitely are a few things about my World Race life that I won’t terribly miss, like the constant constipation and the mystery mush that’s served every meal of the day, but there are so many things that are going to be extremely hard to live without.
I am going to miss the every-night sleepovers in the treehouse, climbing the waterfall in our backyard, and swinging in my hammock on the roof. I am going to miss the sweet moments when a random little kid runs up to you, smashes your face in their little hands, and then runs away giggling. I am going to miss the “praise report” announcements at meal times, the way everyone talks so casually about doing inner healings and deliverances, and always having someone to play Bananagrams with me. I am going to miss walking down the road to the snack shop and passing by a little pickup truck full to the brim with live, squawking chickens. I am going to miss the hours upon hours I get to spend with my team every day, from picking up trash around the compound to learning cheer routines for fun to having vulnerable, real-life conversations. The authentic community I found on the Race has been the biggest blessing to my life and is definitely going to be what I miss the most.
Now that I am returning home to the States, the reality is that I can’t bring my community with me. My precious R-Squad is already dispersed across the world, being game changers for the Kingdom, and D-Squad has 9 more countries to travel to this year. So I am coming home with empty hands, but I am definitely not empty handed. The Lord has used my community to grow and teach me so insanely much over this past year and I couldn’t be more content entrusting my life to His hands for what’s to come.
When I look back on my life before I went on the World Race, I was really good at figuring it all out in my own strength. I checked all of the boxes I was “supposed to” for a 22-year-old and succeeded by the world’s standards but honestly it only left me feeling empty and confused. I was achieving things that I didn’t even want to achieve just because it was expected of me. And on top of it all, my faith was built on a foundation of sand. It wasn’t until I dedicated my next year of life to the Lord and surrendered my strength for His that God showed me how big His plans were for my life. It still blows my mind that in a little over one year, the Lord brought me to 15 countries to teach me how much He loves me and to use me as His vessel to share that love with His people. What an incredible gift.
So as I now transition into the next season of my life, I have been praying that the Lord again would show me His way. I am asked all the time, “Britt, are you excited to go home? What’s next for you?” and to be honest, I literally have no idea. I am super excited to see my amazing family and friends that I have missed so much over the past year and to have some personal freedoms again, but when I picture my future, all I can see is a blank white canvas. Any plans that I try and fill my hands with God takes away, not out of spite but because He loves me and has so much in store, more than I can even comprehend! He knows me better than I know myself and His ways are far greater than my own, so my only job in discerning God’s will for this next chapter of my life is to simply seek Him.
“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” 1 Chronicles 16:11
“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these thigs will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
So I am surrendering all of my plans at His feet, seeking His face for discernment, and waiting for His direction because He is the author of my life. While my flesh desires to know how the rest of my life will go, I simply have to trust that God is sovereign and in control over every detail. And thank goodness that’s not my job because my life is much better off in the hands of the maker of Heaven. So Lord, with empty hands I will wait for you.
