2 days from now marks the halfway point for my race. 2 days from now I will have been on the race for 161 days, and i will have 161 days left. How did this happen so fast?!
I’ve had 161 days straight of constant community, 161 days of growth, 161 days of finding comfort in the uncomfortable, and 161 days of serving. It’s been 161 days of the best adventure of my life, and 161 days of purely relying on the spirit to get me through it.
It tends to be around this point that people realize just what they’ve gotten themselves into.
I mean, I volunteered to live out of a backpack for 11 months and be put with people that I did not choose. I volunteered to ask all, and I mean ALL, of my friends and family to give me money for this crazy journey. I volunteered to give up the comforts that the States provides.
It’s at this point that it tends to hit people that they have to do this amount of time all over again without those comforts.
They won’t be able to drive, or have their car easily accessible.
They won’t be able to roll through a Taco Bell drive through at their own leisure.
They won’t be able to watch ESPN, or Survivor, whenever they want.
They won’t have mama’s home cooked meals for dinner at home.
They won’t be able to see most of their family face to face whenever they want to.
We have 161 more days, at least, until we get any of those things.
But the thing is, it’s so beautiful. The lessons I have learned these past 161 days are lessons that I would not have learned in any other circumstance.
I have learned to love who I am. I have learned that no matter what life throws at me I am a son, an heir to the throne, and a coheir with Christ (Romans 8:17). I have learned how to be a follower, and not let my pride get in the way of my journey. I have learned to extend grace to others, even when communication is at an all time low. I have learned what it TRULY means to live in communion with Christ. To rely on the spirit in my daily walk, and to set aside time for Him every chance I get. Lastly, I have learned that growth comes most when you are immersed in the uncomfortable.
I’ve found joy in this. In not knowing what the day holds, but knowing that I don’t need to have it all figured out. That’s the joy that the world race brings.
So cheers to this. Cheers to being halfway done with this adventure of a lifetime, and to learning all of these lessons I needed to learn. And cheers to what’s to come. To letting God use me, even when I have no idea where or how.
Cheers to 161 more days of the World Race.
In Him,
Caleb Callaway
