Most of my life was a pursuit of normal, I just wanted to be like everyone else and “fit in”, but as the days passed and I grew up, “normal” was a lifestyle that got more and more boring, and I just wanted to escape from the monotony of all the dull days and nights that followed each other in a wearisome cycle. And then, I really encountered Jesus, who changed the monotony to rhythm, and then peppered it all with wild adventures. It wasn’t so much that my days really changed, but my perspective on them changed as I matured into my faith and slowly became a new person that bore striking similarities to the old one. I mean, stop and think about it, the mere fact that we can experience something as ordinary as a good time with dear friends or something as extraordinary as sharing the gospel with a stranger cannot be called anything else than a miracle; God, in His loving kindness, breaks the laws of Nature (ie. we are rebels that sinned against the infinite goodness of God and justly deserve infinite punishment) and allows us to experience these joyful moments when we get a glimpse of His glory, cracks in the door of Heaven (James 1:17).
Taken aback in gratefulness, and awe, in response, my expectation changed from being normal into being Christlike, and then, because my mindset changed, life became an adventure, because, following the leading of the Holy Spirit, I was thrown all sorts of adventures, most of them far outside my comfort zone, and some of them downright embarrassing. Nevertheless, I’m so grateful for all moments and the highs and lows because they are expressions of God’s use of everything in my life for His glory (Rom. 8:28).
The current gift I’ve been given is the World Race. Before coming, I saw the race in terms of a grand adventure of romantic and almost legendary proportions. I mean, how many eighteen-year-olds get to backpack around the world and serve Jesus at the same time? Because of this, at the beginning I was justly excited with all sorts of expectations, and surprised at the ridiculous dimensions my new life was quickly taking. But, now, halfway through the race, adventure has become my normal, and I caught myself saying, and worse, believing “I’m living in Battambang right now, it’s pretty normal”.
I mean, what’s wrong with me!? I’m living in the last country I ever thought I would visit, and I get to see the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE at work everyday and in the lives of my squadmates.I see the daily beauty of miracles and the hand of God. But, as days turn to month six,the excitement wears off, and I get accustomed to the oddity that is my life. Because the thing is, I think I lead a normal life. Kind of. On the race, one learns to expects the unexpected, and so the future is truly open to whatever the Lord wants to do with it. So, like all the characters in the best adventure books, I know I’m changing and getting accustomed to being on the road, but I don’t realize that I’m changing that much until I stop and think; oh, of course I almost got killed in a road accident this morning, I should probably be more careful, and there is NEVER toilet paper in any bathroom, I must take it with me, and can I only get Wifi at coffee shops, so I spend an inordinate amount of time there, and also, that I sleep on the ground. In a tent. No biggie.
As I said, the excitement has kind of worn off, but that only happens when I’m not thinking straight and when I let the moment cloud my eternal perspective. Because, stepping back and thinking about it, I’ve learned so much about myself, God, community, and service, not to mention living really great stories that I will laugh about in years to come.
In the grand adventure CS Lewis writes about in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, he describes how the crew of a small boat called The Dawn Treader sets out to sea from Narnia to find some lost Narnian lords and ends up looking for Aslan’s country in the far east. Once the lords are found, and the main quest is accomplished, Repicheep the mouse makes the characteristically brave and bold statement “My own plans are made. While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan’s country, or shot over the edge of the world into some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise.”
Likewise, sallying forth in this adventure that is life, I hope to continually sail to the heavenly east until all else fails, appreciating the adventures as a true miracles and endeavoring to courageously weather the beautiful and bizarre reality that is this cosmos, and then, when my time has come, sink with my nose to the sunrise.
