I have been away from home for two solid weeks. I’ve flown for 6 hours from Washington DC to San Francisco where I met up with the Americans on my squad and we began our adventure together. From San Fran we flew 14 hours to Wuhan, China and had a tiny lay over before boarding a plane to Bangkok, Thailand. Once we brushed our teeth, rubbed the sleep out of our eyes and collected our packs we boarded a coach bus (that looked like it time traveled from 1979, but it was fabulous) for a 10 hour drive to Chiang Mai, Thailand. I slept like contortionist and a baby on that bus.
After two weeks of being in Chiang Mai at an amazing hostel above a Christian coffee shop called Zion Café, plus a ranch outside the city for training camp, I’ve come away with a general theme: take the middle seat.
Three days before I left home, I became very sick, sicker than I’ve been in a long time. I had body aches plus chills and a mucus family had taken up residency in my sinuses and chest. The day I had to fly out, I had a fever. Who wants to break a fever while flying for 6 hours?? When I had said goodbye to my parents and made my way to my gate, I sat and rested but I was aware of all the little kids and babies toddling around. I prayed, “Dear Lord, please do not let me sit next to a baby so that I can sleep and break this fever. Please please.” Sure enough, I boarded and sat at my comfy window seat that my dad had selected the evening before, and there came a mom with a toddler strapped to her chest, and she asked if I would give up my seat so her family could all sit next to each other. I couldn’t say no. So I moved back a row and to the middle seat. Sleeping and isolation just became impossible. And really, I didn’t sleep a bit on that flight, however, the 19 month old in front of me thought I was the funniest thing she’d ever seen and her parents thanked me over and over again for smiling at her and playing peekaboo when she was getting restless. Also, I had the best conversations with a lovely woman traveling to her New Zealand cruise, and once off the plane she thanked me for making her flight so enjoyable. Although I probably looked rough, I stayed distracted and my fever left without much of a fight, and that middle seat was a gift.
The next day, on my next flight (the 14 hours killer from the US to China) I had a middle seat. DEAR LORD HAVE MERCY. I bit my lip at the ticket counter and thought, it’ll be ok. I got on the plane and took my spot in the middle. When the plane started to move and the nice Chinese stewardess had already given me two glasses of water (my sickness was having one last hoorah) I realized no one was sitting in the window seat next to me. HOLY COW BATMAN, I HAD SO MUCH SPACE. My new squadmate and I laughed and shared stories for part of the mega flight and otherwise I slept and watched movies like a champ. Once again, my anxiety was for nothing and this middle seat was a gift.
The next flight, you guessed it, my third middle seat for the win. This time, I didn’t have the energy to be annoyed that I kept getting stuck in the middle, I slept through the airplane food and only stirred when my neck muscles started to threaten snapping. Before it landed I had an awesome conversation with the guy next to me and explained the World Race and he thanked me for sharing and making him laugh. The middle seat was a gift.
Fast forward two week. Yesterday I was asked to be the Logistics Co-coordinator for my whole Fusion Squad. Myself and one other squadmate will be responsible for organizing squad movement from one country to the next, except for plane travel in which we only have to get to the airport. This is a position that will take a lot of work and attention to detail and planning. Real talk: I though I left administration behind me in the states. If my hobbies could be broken up into three circles of a ven diagram labeled “good at”, “needed” and “passionate”, it would land in the “good at” and “needed” overlap, but not in the sweet spot where all three areas overlap. Really, while excel spreadsheets are important and slightly cool, it does not make me feel like I’m standing in the throne room of God.
Something we’ve implemented as a squad is the call to “Take It Up” – when there’s something weighing on us, we have to first take it to God before anyone else. When I sat on my bed after being asked to serve the squad in this way, I thought, “What? …. C’mon God, you know I love photography and storytelling and worship so much more than I like this stuff. Why do I have to do this?” Immediately and in sort of a shocking way, I thought of all the flights where I had the middle seat. I had expected unnecessary uncomfortableness and was angry that I didn’t get my way, but in each I was shocked by how God blessed me and let me bless others.
As explained by one of my fantastic coaches, Tim Dillbeck (affectionately called Papa T), the little decisions of obedience will eventually make the big decisions for us. While sitting in a middle seat on a few flights may seem like nothing, it is this spirit of embracing uncomfortableness in order to serve others that is making this big decision for me. This next 11 months is about my squad bringing the Kingdom, which is extending the reign of Jesus to new places – whether that’s in the heart of my team mate or a whisper of His name to a new nation – this happens through love, and love alone. Loving through logistics in this case.
Bring on this middle seat.
