The first month of the Race has come to a close. As we are gearing up (literally) to make the trek to Nepal, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on all the Lord has taught me this month.
He has broken all my expectations.
He has taught me what it means to live in community. He has taught me what complete selflessness looks like. He has taught me to see people. He has shown me servant hearts, eager to learn and glorify God in love. He has stretched me in one month way more than I expected. He has taught me patience, even when I didn’t want to be patient. He has taught me to seek Him in the quiet, to search for His face and to desire Him in moments when I feel helpless. He has opened my heart for others, to let people into my healing process and to help them heal as well.
I am leaving India expectant, but with no expectations for month two. God will continue to provide. He will continue to stretch me, heal me and refine me through these experiences. I am so thankful for this past month and for what’s to come.
This video does not even begin to do justice to what we experienced. The people we were able to serve, served us and changed us way more than I could have imagined. They come from nothing, live with nothing and give everything they have to love others well. My life was rocked more than one time by the hospitality, compassion and faith shown by the families living in these villages.
It’s easy to show a video of the hopelessness these people experience.. to make a “Sarah McLachlan Puppy Commercial” and have everyone’s heartstrings emotionally moved. But that’s not what I experienced. I experienced laughter, so much laughter, and joy! I wanted to show that. I wanted to make a highlight reel showing friends back home, that even though these people live in extreme poverty, laughter and light still reign.
That’s God’s presence.
The light is Jesus, and these people know what it is like to live a life fully consumed in His radiant light. I want to live a life like that. I pray I can live a life of faith even half as much as the people we encountered. I hope that you will be able to get a glimpse of the joy that was spread from our time in these villages.
