Dear Future Racer,
Are you ready? Are you ready for the cost?
Are you ready for sweet hellos and hard goodbyes?
Are you ready to say goodbye to everything back home?
Are you ready to be broken for things you never thought you would be broken for?
Are you ready to start questioning things more than you ever have before?
Are you ready for uncomfortable to be your new comfortable?
Are you ready to let go of yourself in ways you didn’t know you were holding on?
Are you ready to sit halfway through your 9 or 11 months and wonder what your purpose is on the race?
Are you ready for failed expectations?
Are you ready conflict with your team/squad?
Are you ready for a change of direction in your life?
Are you ready to have your views shift on what “church” looks like?
Are you ready to see the Lord work in ways you have never seen before?
….So are you ready for the cost? Probably not. I wasn’t, even though I thought I was. I never thought the cost of missions would come in the ways it did. I never thought one of the hardest things about the race would be failed expectations or saying goodbye to someone I had only known for a few weeks. The race isn’t easy. Yes, you have amazing days spent loving on kids at an orphanage, or even days spent swimming with elephants. But you also have countless nights spent crying on a rooftop, or begging God to show you his goodness through all of the terrible situations you will see.
From the outside, the race looks like a fun trip that allows you to travel and love on people. To an extent, I suppose it is. Standing at the end of my race, however, I can tell you that it is much more than that. I don’t want to scare you away from the race by any means. Even through all of the hard stuff, I would go back and do it all again. The race costed more than the $16,000 I fundraised. It will for you as well.
Future racer, you are about to experience the greatest thing of your entire life, but I want you to sit back and think:
Are you ready for the cost?
