So much has happened. I really don’t know where to start. Sorry, to be a little behind on my blogging everyone, but really I feel like I could write a book about each individual day on the Race. I guess that means we are making the most of it all?
I wish truly that everyone could experience the world like this. Traveling is not always easy, leaving on a bus at 1am to then experience about 4 hours of going through security for a 6am flight culminating in a 14 hour layover in an airport you can’t leave until your next flight landing at 3am in your next country, trust me. Not easy, but more than worth it. I just left Palestine and Israel and experienced so much there, and now I’m in Armenia and it’s a whole new world. Only 7 days ago, I was in Jordan. So, right now I’m living life at 1000mph, yet I’m learning that there is so much beauty in slowing down and taking it all in. That God goes with me through it all.
I’ve been with my new team for a month now, and I love them dearly. Changes have kept coming since the team changes just before Christmas. Obviously, I’ve moved around quite a bit, but also our Alumni Squad Leaders just left the field, and my team’s route change to work in the Moria refugee camp has also come with it’s own set of challenges to be flexible.
So how do you slow down and take it all in when you’re life is going 1000mph and everything is changing? I think that’s a viable question for all of us to consider.
Well, I’d say there are maybe 5 things that have helped me to pause:
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That’s a joke. I’m still learning.
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I want to finish this list though.
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You don’t have to read the list.
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You’re probably going to read it.
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You read it, didn’t you?
Ok. So everything is happening and life is fast, but when you’re chasing after the Lord He is really all that counts. You may miss some things, you may not get the perfect flight itinerary, your heart may break with goodbyes to people you deeply care about, you may not have a good night’s rest for a few days in a row, or you may get pickpocketed, you may see one of the 7 wonders of the world in Jordan, or sing not 30 feet from the tomb where Jesus was laid in Jerusalem, or see the most beautiful city of your life in Armenia, or make the best connection with a person (always because people rock), but what it all comes down to when the world around you is crazy and turning and churning up your soul with changes and everything else is being with the Father. Because I know God is with me, everything is alright. He is my peace inside the storm. He is my strength when I have none. He is my hope when faced with hopelessness. He is my constant when everything is crazy. He is my joy even when the world tries to offer something exciting.
So, real life that’s what I’ve been discovering. God is better than the best the world offers. He is truly all satisfying if we press into Him. He is worth it. Pursue Him and the adventure is amazing, but not just because it’s an adventure or just because it’s fun. It’s amazing because we go with God, and you can do that anywhere. You can start right where you are. What is He asking you?
Do it. Take a step of trust in your relationship with the Lord. Jesus paid it all so you could have one. Relationship. That’s what this is all about.
You know, I’ve dealt with serious FOMO (fear of missing out). Now, I’ve experienced a ton. I’ve gotten to do somethings most people never get to do in their entire lives. I’ve still missed some things, I didn’t get to go to Wadi Rum despite being only a couple miles away, and I didn’t see everything there is to see in Palestine or Israel. But, in that I’ve found there is nothing worth more than Him. I’d trade all this, everything for more intimacy with God. I want everyone to experience Him so bad! It’s hard to see Him and even harder to experience Him with focus on life’s problems, worry, money, success. We all have brokenness because of sin. The whole world is looking for solutions. We go from one problem to the next offering up no permanent solutions. We strive and try to fix, but our hearts just ache with more longing. I don’t want another band-aid. Neither do the people of the world. The brokenness in our hearts must be repaired or really all the beauty the world does have could never be properly appreciated. Our lives carry so much meaning. We were made in the image of God. His heart was broken over the state of this world’s darkness so it was in the darkness He came. The light of the world. He came to flood our hearts and be the light of men. He came to begin repairing all that’s broken in me and in you. Healing is available. Peace is available. True love is available. His name is Jesus. He has grace for you and all your sin, and he truly wants to change the brokenness you’ve experienced in your life. He wants to use you to shine to the people around you. Be a window to receive His love and a mirror to reflect it.
Sermon over. Here are some pictures:
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Love, Daniel
“All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.”
John 1:3?-?5 HCSB
