I first heard about the race through a friend of a friend who was going on it during my junior year. Sometimes when I had some free time in a library study hall, I would look up Colleen’s blog and read all about her time with kids in Swazi, or fun stories about her training camp here in Gainesville, Georgia. But in one of her last blogs, she wrote about the things God had taught her over the whole race and one that stuck out to me was REST. Coll’s blog talked about learning how to rest both physically and spiritually, especially since she had always been so busy at home. I read that blog and thought, “That won’t be me on the race. I love being busy, and it’s better for me to be constantly serving God than to sit and do nothing.”
But then I went into senior year and I was SO busy, always running from school to tennis games to church to home where I’d be applying to college, working on homework or fundraising. There was never a break, just more things to check off on my neverending to-do list. Then in quarantine, I finally was able to rest and just sit with God. I could be productive and get my schoolwork done, and then just sit with my family without worrying about a hundred other little things I had to get done. But when summer came around and some of the restrictions lifted, I went right back to being busy every single day and not taking time to rest and process.
Even after most of my friends had started school, I refused to sit with God and process what was going on. The idea of leaving home and everything familiar and for it to not be the same when I came back was too much for me and when I boarded my flight to Atlanta, I did not feel ready at all for the World Race.
But God is so gracious to us and in my first two weeks here, He met me right where I was. We got to campus on a Wednesday, so our third day was Saturday, which is the beginning of the weekend but also sabbath. For one or two days a week on the Race, we take the time to rest with the Father and abide in His presence, which is much needed whether you’re doing ministry five days a week or you’re hearing teachings on how to listen to the Lord’s voice. That first weekend, I was finally able to sit with Jesus for HOURS and pour out my heart to Him – how I really felt about leaving home and my friends and family, what expectations I had about the Race, what I thought about meeting most of my squad for the first time, and everything in between. And when I was all poured out, I saw a note in my Bible that a friend had sent to me before I left.
It says,
“ a reminder today to breathe and go sit with Jesus.
with no agenda, just to soak in His rest and stillness and love. “
God doesn’t want our relationship with Him to always be us coming to Him and telling Him about our problems; He wants us to also come to Him because we love Him and we want to be with Him. He also taught me that He has strength for me, I just need to come and receive it. In order to be constantly pouring out into others, we also have to fill up on Him (Matthew 10:8 – Freely you have received, freely give. ) Also, sabbath isn’t just for the Old Testament; dedicating a certain time each week just to abide in the Father’s presence has been so so good 😉
So, that’s some of what God’s been speaking to me about in my time here !
Also, I’ve got a couple of announcements – first of all, I’M FULLY FUNDED !!!! Thank you so so much to everyone who donated, it’s been amazing to see how the Lord has provided!
AND, on October 10 my squad will be traveling to Louisiana to do ministry!! We’re going to be working with Samaritan’s Purse to minister to families whose homes have been damaged by Hurricane Laura. Coming here, we didn’t know if we’d be able to leave campus at all during our three months here, so this is a huge answer to prayer. There’s also still a lot of unknowns and challenges since we’re doing this during a pandemic, so please be keeping us in your prayers !!
