After being home in Kennesaw, Georgia for 3 days, it is apparent that I will be staying here for a little while. It’s been an interesting process trying to adjust to life here compared to life on the Race. I spent an hour and a half yesterday just driving around and parking in several locations to sit with the Lord. I had no direction as far as where I was going so I was wandering rather aimlessly. As I was journaling and reflecting, I likened the re-entry process to something like climbing back through the wardrobe from Narnia.
A friend of mine asked me if I felt like it was more of a dream that I was here and that the Race was a reality or the other way around. I could only answer both. I was sitting in Olive Garden with my family feeling like I was dreaming and that I would wake up in the dirt in Africa sweating in my tent. I also, at moments, felt as if the last 11 months were just a flash in my mind because of how everything felt “the same” at home. My mind and heart have been bouncing between locations, between two worlds. I have not felt cohesiveness….yet. I’ve been living in a world for the past 11 months that seemed so different from the world that I came from. It was magical but real, it was different but the same. And when I returned home 3 days ago, after the most adventurous and life-changing 11 months of my life, it felt as if I had just left in some ways. Sure, time has passed, people have changed, but the “world” seems the same to me. And I stepped back into it thinking that so much has happened over the past year for it to be so similar to before.
My mind is trying to wrap around the FACT that this is the next season of my life. I know that eventually the bouncing back and forth of dreams and thoughts will unite into one fluid mindset. That the worlds will blend together and what I’ve learned this year will not be forgotten but will be integrated into my life here. I’m learning that the stories, the faces, and the moments photographed in my memory will always be a part of me. They remain with me no matter what season of life I’m going through. So as seasons change, I desire to take what I’ve learned from the previous season and incorporate it into the next season, and the next season, and the next….
So it flows into one continuous life. Yes, in seasons, but life. As I’m starting this new season, it has been important to bring closure to the previous one. Saying goodbye to family, ending the Race well, and cutting my hair (which happened to be a pretty emotional experience for me). It’s the closing of the old and the welcoming of the new. My prayer is that God would show me how to see The World Race in Kennesaw, Georgia. How to see experiences I’ve had out in the world in this new environment. How to serve, love, and share with the people here what I’ve seen on The World Race. I pray for the two worlds to be one and for my heart to not be divided. Thank you Lord that you operate in seasons, I praise you for each and every one…
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…
He has made everything beautiful in HIS time.”
