As kids it’s easy to see the process of growing up. Parents keep growth charts from year to year. They buy you new school clothes each summer because you’ve outgrown the others. Relatives constantly declare “Look how much you’ve grown!” You have school pictures to compare from year to year, you go through the different stages of development and change, etc. As kids we had it pretty easy in terms of documenting our growth. It was visible, primarily physical, and noticeable to most. We could clearly see the transformations happening.
As adults, however, it’s not quite as easy, and it’s not so much about physical growth and change (although still naturally occurring of course). It’s more about change in behavior; maturing, discovering strengths & weaknesses, and growing & transforming into what and who God made us to be.
And that’s a much scarier process of growth. Because it causes us to look past the outward changes and focus on the heart transformations. It means going to the hard places with people and getting to know them on a personal level. It means bringing big issues and past experiences to the surface and dealing with them head on. It raises questions and causes us to think.
Transformation also requires commitment and patience. It’s not a one & done thing. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes weeks, months, years…it’s a slow, never-ending process because God is never finished with us. There will always be room for growth and change because we were never meant to achieve perfection.
A big part of the reason I came on the World Race was because I had a desire to be transformed. I didn’t want to live for myself anymore. I wanted to learn what it meant to live with abandon. I wanted God to show me who it is He created me to be.
In Nepal I got a tattoo of a dragonfly, as in some cultures they are a symbol of transformation. I got it as a reminder of my desire to be stretched, challenged, and transformed throughout this 11-month long journey (and well after of course).
I’m now 5 1/2 months into the Race and God has already transformed me in so many ways. I can say with confidence I’m not the same person I was when I started this journey, and yet I still have a lot of areas to grow in. It’s exciting, knowing that this much change has happened in what feels like such a short amount of time…and thinking about all the ways God is going to continue to stretch and grow me not only over the next 5-6 months, but in the years to come.
Transformation is hard; it’s scary, and sometimes overwhelming.
But how else do you go about this thing called life?
