I listened to a sermon last week about the rich young ruler. If you don’t know the story, it is found in Matthew 19:16-22. The rich young ruler asks Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life. Jesus tells him to keep the 10 commandments. “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Then Jesus told him to go, sell his possessions, and give to the poor. The man walked away sad, because he was quite wealthy. His possessions had a hold on him and prevented him from following Jesus’ command.
There are so many sermons that can come from this passage. One sentence that the pastor said, though, really grabbed my attention.
Don’t accumulate possessions; accumulate experiences.
Part of my decision to come on the World Race was the decision to live with limited possessions. For the past 9+ months I have lived out of a backpack. I can’t say that I haven’t accumulated more possessions on the Race, but man, have I accumlated some experiences!
While waiting on a bus in Honduras, a woman with Down’s Syndrome
came up to me and plastered me with a hug. Knocked me off balance, even.
I had never seen her before, but I returned the hug with equal ferver.
The same thing happened again in Costa Rica.
In Guatemala I played with kids at the dump while their parents
sorted through the trash for recyclables. A couple of the youngest kids
looked absolutely forlorn, but I made them smile. And when they smiled,
my heart sang. One day I held a newborn while she slept. Precious child.
Another day I hiked through the jungle to hang out with a family.
The grandmother chopped down plantains from a tree
and I carried them to the house.
I awoke in Costa Rica to a family of howler monkeys
howling in the trees just outside of my window.
We prayed for a Thai woman who suffered from a headache.
Her headache disappeared.
We prayed for a Thai man who had a sore ankle.
He walked away pain free.
I walked over a bridge carrying all of my possessions.
I began the bridge in Thailand and ended in Myanmar.
I pet lion cubs, a bear cub, and cheetahs in South Africa.
I ziplined in view of an erupting volcano in the Philippines.
I ate chicken pad Thai in Thailand.
At morning break time from school,
Piolo came running out of the classroom with
a huge grin and a giggle, heading straight for my arms.
As I hugged a little boy in Cambodia,
I learned that he was almost sold for $300.
His sister was almost sold for $1,000.
The buyers were lined up, but the kids were taken away
by their aunt and sent instead to an orphanage
where they would live freely.
I learned the real meaning of nit-picking when I helped
de-lice girls at a children’s home in Honduras.
Upon my arrival home, Borrei came running at me
ready for a hug. On the day that I said goodbye,
he said he wanted me to be his sister.
Julio came up to me outside and asked me in Tagalog
to play pool with him. All I understood was ‘pool,’
but I smiled and said yes. Language doesn’t matter when love is at its root.
I baptized a woman in Thailand–my first baptism.
I caught a virus somewhere between Thailand
and Myanmar that left me with painful and sometimes swollen joints,
fever, and a rash that lasted weeks. Some days I couldn’t move for the pain.
I swam in the ocean for the first time in years.
I laughed and splashed around with my friends while
the waves crashed over us.
I held a South African baby whose mom couldn’t afford to give her a good life.
