What REAL LIFE Really Looks Like.

REAL LIFE.

People want to know what life is like on the World Race. It’s difficult to explain succinctly, but one thing I know for sure…. It’s REAL LIFE.

World Racers often ask the question, “Is this real life?” Because life living in community 24/7, traveling to different countries, experiencing new cultures, adapting to new environments and experiences on a daily/weekly/monthly basis looks a lot different than what most would consider normal life... And the truth is that it’s not normal; it’s radical living. It’s hard, it’s crazy, it’s unfamiliar, and it couldn’t be any more beautiful, raw, and real.

What I’ve experienced in the past six months traveling the world is what I want the rest of my ‘REAL LIFE’ to look like. What it should like.

REAL LIFE on the race is:

• An opportunity to #LAGS (Live A Great Story).
  • Embrace new experiences. Each day there are chances to do something you’ve never done before. JUST DO IT! You only live once, so why waste any time that you’re given to experience being a part of creation and soaking it all up through your physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual senses?!?
• A daily encounter with God.
  • A revelation of who He is and the many facets of His Triune character…. You just have to STOP, LOOK, & LISTEN. He’s all around ready to be acknowledged, His mighty works recognized, and His goodness glorified.
• A daily encounter with yourself.
  • There comes a time when you have to face yourself -the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful. The WR journey gently guides, or sometimes more forcibly, makes you look at yourself in the mirror, accept yourself as God made you, and assess areas you can grow in. I’ve learned more about myself in six months than the past 24 years… I expected and wanted to learn about myself, others, and God while on the race. God blew my expectations out of the waters with all these life lessons.
• A daily encounter with others.
  • The World Race is life committed to community – loving, serving, and sharing with each other, even when you’d rather consider becoming a hermit. Every hour of every day, together. No isolation available. It can be exhausting for the more introverted individuals; even for extroverts it can be taxing at times.
  • You’re never without a buddy- privacy (physical & emotional) becomes a distant memory.
• Preferring others over your natural instinct to serve yourself first.
  • Ex: Going to the market with your teammate to run errands during your free time when you’d rather plug in your headphones and read a good book.
  • Blessing your teammate by giving up the opportunity to sleep in a bed and letting them enjoy the luxury instead.
• Consulting 6-7 other people before making decisions regarding daily life– what/where to eat, where to go, what to do, who to interact with, how to serve, etc..
  • Life on WR teams are a great preparation for marriage…. I’m beginning to think that marriage will be a breeze after this journey due to the fact that I’ll only have to consider, consult, and comprise with one person instead of six in all things.
• Sharing, sharing, and more sharing….
  • For a person who has controlling, anal, perfectionist, and possessive tendencies this is hard. Letting six other people use your material possessions, taste your delicious food/drinks, sit/lay in your bed is a stretching experience. Every single day. Mom, Dad, you would be so proud of me and the ways God has grown me in this area. 
• A call to greatness…
  • In the fellowship of believers on the WR, you have teammates who love you well by holding you accountable to a higher standard. You can’t run, you can’t hide, you can’t run away from your issues. It’s time to face your crap and clean it out so it doesn’t contaminate the wonderful essence of who you truly are in God’s eyes. Your teammates see the greatness inside of you and they affirm your worth in the Lord, the skills and unique qualities that He has blessed you with.
• An opportunity to develop into the unique person God designed you to be.
  • There’s only one of you. No one else can be you, but YOU. God designed you with a specific purpose and He places you in situations, circumstances, and with people in which you have the choice to either be who you were meant to be or be who the world tells you that you should be.
• A daily lesson in the importance of good, healthy, clear, and continual communication.
  • You can’t get through your day without communication. It’s necessary for living and working with others. Continual communication with God, others, and yourself is a key component of this life.
    • EX: Every day, our team gathers for ‘feedback’, where we vocalize to each other areas in which we/they can grow (encouragement to change, progress, & improve in  loving and serving others and glorify God to further the Kingdom, and affirm (compliment, encourage, & support)ways in which they are using their choices to do so. WE SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE. Use your words, wrap the content of your communication well. We face conflict head on, (Tip: don’t avoid, don’t be passive-aggressive, don’t sit on your assumptions/presumptions, clear the air). Healthy communication promotes healthy relational atmospheres, interactions, and growth.…. And when we receive feedback from our teammates, we simply reply, “Thank You and/or I Love You” and we take it to the Lord in prayer and really consider the heart behind what was said before we respond to or discuss it with the person/team within 24 hours. And then we apply what we learned. Try applying some of these tactics in your daily communication. In your communication, be loving, be honest, be open, be fruitful.

• A test and practice of faith.
  • Oh Lordy, is it ever! In life, you will be tested. You can either play it safe and resist taking risks… or you can step out in faith, trusting in and relying on the Lord to see you through. You may be scared of failing, being wrong, or looking like a fool. DO IT ANWAY. God won’t leave you hanging, I promise. God is constantly providing opportunities for you to act in faith so that He can show the world His majesty, His greatness, and His eternal love for us.
    • Ex (During our time in Nicaragua): My team was eating dinner outside and a close family friend of our contacts, a young man, was sitting outside on the steps. I knew he needed encouragement, I could feel it. So I spoke out in boldness and asked my team to gather around him and pray for him…not knowing what was going on or what the situation was. So we did…and it was such a blessing for us all and a true testimony to God speaking to me, to all of us. After we prayed, the young man told us that before we approached him, he had been praying for God to help him and send him angels; he was feeling, lost, alone, hopeless. He told us that immediately after we came and prayed around him, and there were angels standing amongst us as we interceded for our brother. We were an answered prayer…. We stepped out in faith and God used our team that night as His holy vessels.

This is just a brief summary of what ‘REAL LIFE’ looks like on the World Race. There’s so much more to it, but I encourage you to grasp your own journey by the reins and explore what ‘REAL LIFE’ really is and what it means.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three-in-one, true community, perfect relationship, flawless communication. The Trinity, in completion, is our pure example of how to live in community, pursue relationships, and communicate in love. We were made in God’s image, we are a part of His design. Therefore, we were made to live in community, to exist inside of relationships, and to commune with Him, others, and ourselves in time, in energy, and in communication. We are not our own; we were made to live for Him. What we have is not our own; we are called to be good stewards of everything that God has blessed us with (Our being (physical/emotional/spiritual), our relationships, our material resources, our entire life).

This life we live is a beautiful process. Take part. I dare you to stop ‘toe-dipping’ and canon-ball into the deep waters. I dare you to cast out fear and walk forth never looking back. I dare you to move, to take action, to take responsibility for your life. I dare you to invest, wholeheartedly, in the precious gift of life.

What I’ve experienced on the WR has shown me a life I never want to turn my back on again. I don’t want to just exist to survive; I want to live to thrive. I don’t want to live this life for myself; I want to live for others. I don’t want to fall in love and become ingrained in this world when I was called to a life of eternity with Christ. I don’t want to live in isolation; I want to invest in community and devote myself to relationships. I don’t want to settle into a job, a salary, a relationship, a worldly success; I want to aspire for the ultimate, the utmost in everything. I don’t want to accept the world’s ‘normal life’; I want to embrace and live out God’s REAL LIFE.