Coming into the race, I honestly didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I thought I signed up for a mission trip and the 3 months of training would be learning about different cultures and how to live overseas. I didn’t know that the race also invites you to question everything you’ve ever believed/been told about Christianity.
I grew up going to church. I went to a Christian school and every single one of my friends were Christians. We were really good at playing the role of a good Christian kid. But at least for me I put my religion into a box. I thought anything outside this box was people over spiritualizing. I thought church was just for Sundays and I thought learning about the Bible was just to get a good grade in Bible class. I thought I could just give God pieces of my life and hold on to what I wanted to. I knew a relationship with the Lord gave ultimate freedom, but it was always just a backup plan to me. My first resort was to find satisfaction in the world and if that failed me then I would pick up my relationship with the Lord again until I found something to temporarily satisfy me again.
Within the first week it was made pretty clear that a relationship with the Lord is an all or nothing thing. God doesn’t want an ankle-deep faith He wants every single piece of my soul. I don’t get to pick and choose what the Lord has control over. He wants control over all of it even the tiny things I think there is absolutely no way He would care about.
The box I thought Christianity was has completely shattered since being here. I see God in every single piece of life. I see him in the tiny bugs, the huge trees and the laughter of my squad. I recognize He’s moving even when I feel absolutely nothing. I desire more than ever to be a part of bringing heaven to Earth and to have the love the Lord gives me to overflow onto to every single person I come into contact with.
It’s only been 2 months and my view of God and Christianity has radically shifted. I can’t imagine what else he has in store but how awesome is it that we serve a God who doesn’t hold out on us when we ask for more of him.
