This month the New Kids on the Block are in Nepal doing trekking ministry. We’ll be backpacking through the Himalayas into rural mountain villages sharing the love of Jesus with the locals. Some of these people may be hearing about Jesus for the first time from us. Like… what? How did I get here? How is this my life??
This past weekend we debriefed the first five months of the World Race, processing that we are now nearly halfway through this journey… I am already six months into this crazy thing!
My new squad leader and BFF Chloe gave a talk at debrief on a bicycle’s training wheels, or as they say in Nor’n Ireland, “stabilizers,” and what might be holding us back from living our true adventure. I’ll never forget her words: “I don’t know about you guys, but I dreamed of doing the Race for two whole years before actually doing this thing. And now we are five months in, with six months remaining. I have six months left of my dream.”
Well, THAT was a slap in the face. I thought about it; I’m getting to live in Chloe’s dream.
I felt called to read through Ecclesiastes and turned to tell my other BFF Marge, who said she’d also just felt called to read it. So we cuddled up in our Nepalese cashmere blankets with candy and Oreos (we’d just gotten too overwhelmed with how convicting the book was and coped with junk food). Each verse made us shrink a little inside…
Some of our favorite heavy hitters:
“I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from the beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.” (Ecc. 3:11-12)
“Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless, like chasing the wind.” (Ecc. 6:9)
“Don’t long for the ‘good old days.’ This is not wise.” (Ecc. 7:10)
“Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God. Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another, or maybe both. Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning.” (Ecc. 11:5-7)
“Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in.” (Ecc. 11:9)
“Do not let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator.” (Ecc. 12:1)
–Sidebar, Margaret and I have decided we’re reading Ecclesiastes at each other’s weddings. Not the depressing “life is all meaningless” parts, but everything else about enjoying your spouse’s company amidst life’s ups and downs. The whole book is just so flippin’ good.
Chloe’s bike metaphor mixed with Ecclesiastes highlighted a truth I’ve known for a while: many of my decisions are made out of fear, both on and off the Race. I’m not a different, less fearful person just because I chose to do this. My fears have become my stabilizers, the training wheels holding me back. I have a fear of burnout on this thing, a fear of going home unchanged, a fear of loneliness, a fear of dealing with too difficult of things, a fear of messing people up with my mess ups. But sheesh, what a SAD shame it would be to continue slowly pedaling on with my training wheels and risk missing out on the adventure of this life! All because I craved stability and safety.
I’m realizing that people dream of living the life I’m living. I got bird poop in my hair yesterday and my first nosebleed today, and I still feel like I’m living the dream! People gave loads of money because they believed I was worthy of this adventure (After the bird poop incident I turned to Chloe and said, “I fundraised for this bird to poop on me.”).
I am choosing to lay down my fear and training wheels to join the adventure my Creator has placed in front of me. Peace out fear.
To quote my wise momma, “Life’s too short to spend it stressed out and unhappy.” I know she’s always been right, but I’m realizing now that the World Race is just too darn short to waste it in fear when life calls me to joyously speed up and enjoy the breeze. This month I can choose to stay on flat ground or pedal into the mountains of Nepal.
I want to be the female Bob Goff and ride out this adventure through the final six months, stopping to savor everything, and refusing to slow down until I’ve crossed the finish line.
Each day is a gift, a dream, a vapor. And I want to live the rest of my vapor life as the life I always wished for.
Don’t long for the good old days; they’re already here.
“How rare and beautiful it is to even exist.”
