Month 8
Month 8. I have been on this journey for 8 months, and in only 3 months, I will be stepping back onto American soil.
I am filled with a mixture of emotions at this thought. Part of me gets really excited about seeing my family, friends, and boyfriend. Part of me has (finally) started to miss the little comforts of home. But part of me wants to wrap my arms around the Race like a child refusing to leave somewhere with his mom pulling him.
I am living my dream right now. I spent 4 full years dreaming about the World Race. And I’m living it. And it’s nearing the end. 8 months of international food, spontaneous worship, teaching English, loving on kiddos, going on adventures, marveling at the Lord’s goodness, growing in confidence, living with the best community of believers, and so much more.
It would be so easy for me to say that this is going to be the best year of my life. This is the year that is going to give me all of my good stories, and I will flip through my World Race photo album with my grandkids one day. And while that may be true, I refuse to believe that my life peaks here. The World Race is not an isolated high but a launching pad for living missionally and bringing Kingdom no matter what comes next. The World Race has a saying, “Make the ceiling of this season the floor of the next.” By that, they mean that we are continuously moving from glory to glory, and we can use what we’ve learned to continue walking in obedience.
This month is Bolivia was phenomenal! My last blog shares a little more about it and why it was one of my favorite months. Even while I was loving my time so much, I started really thinking about life after the Race. (Yesterday I started applying for teaching jobs, so the real world is quickly coming for me.)
My team found a coffee shop outside of the city. It was on a huge piece of land and overlooked the mountains. I sat alone outside and just stared at the mountains while I drank my double cappuccino. This was the time when I really started dreaming with the Lord.
God gave me so many dreams and ideas of what this next season could look like. He gave me ideas of what I want to look for in a church and how I’m going to build community in a town that I haven’t lived in in 5 years. He gave me new visions of what I want my teaching career to look like and how I can serve my students. He reminded me of my love for Spanish and how I can use that in my future. For hours, we planned the next few years together.
I started a dream list in my journal. It includes everything- realistic dreams like getting ESL certified, small dreams like learning how to do latte art, and big dreams like having my own podcast. I was inspired by 3 incredible podcasts this month that you should really check out: 1) The Simple Mission by Ethos Church 2) The Privilege of Prayer on Radical Together by David Platt 3) For Those Who Don’t Enjoy Evangelism on Crazy Love by Francis Chan
So here’s the thing- This year has been incredible and stretching and fun and worshipful and everything in between. I have loved every minute of it (except maybe the ice cold bucket showers with the wormy water or when my head was covered with like 25 lice bugs). Yet as amazing as it has been, I am so excited to see what God has in store for this next season.
I fully believe that my life is going to just continue bringing me closer to Jesus and filling me with joy after this year. And if I can have big dreams after a year like this, so can you. When is the last time you spent time dreaming with the Lord? Have you ever just sat with Him and prayed about it? The Lord has such incredible plans for us. I want to encourage you to not let kids or a busy job or your age or anything else make you feel like you can’t dream. Because take it from me, the Lord will just continue to have more for us as we continue to walk in obedience. It’s not always easy or glamorous, but it’s a beautiful life. So take some time today to just dream with the Lord. I can’t wait to hear what He says.
