When preparing for the Race, I would always break up our journey into 4 segments:
1st: India and Nepal
2nd: South Africa, Swaziland, and Mozambique
3rd: Latvia and Estonia
4th & final: Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam
Of the 4 segments, Europe, the third leg of my trip, seemed like a resting place to catch up on Western life in between the craziness of Africa and the heat of Southeast Asia. Honestly, I had absolutely no idea what the Lord had in store for these two months… I had never even heard of these two tiny Baltic countries that were under the Iron Curtain rule of the Soviet Union for many horrific years before. When we landed in Riga, the capital of Latvia, we were greeted with high-speed WiFi and white-skinned people, both of which had been a rare occurrence for the first half of the race. On the way to our ministry site, we passed through miles and miles of fields of brightly colored flowers while the lovely smell of lilac blew past me. I thought to myself on our first bus ride, “Wow, I’m going to be in heaven this month.” And as far as World Race standards go, we were in heaven. We had our own little rooms with comfy beds, a closet to store our things, our own bathroom with HOT showers, a kitchen with normal western appliances, and all the things necessary to make you feel right at home.
Our ministry for the month was at a place called St. Gregors, and we were going to be doing all kinds of different ministry from a kid’s day camp to visiting old folks homes. People ministry is my thing, and after choosing into relationship with people the previous month, I knew that I was going to do the same this month and choose to form bonds no matter the obstacles. However, I quickly learned after being in Latvia for only a few days that the relationship that God wanted me to focus on was not with other people, but with him.
At the beginning of the World Race, I learned how it was my tendency to turn to people before I turned to the Lord. People are there and it’s easier and more tangible to go to others when things go wrong. One Wednesday afternoon, I was having a really hard day and turned to God first before even talking to anyone about it. That afternoon, God showed up in our green backyard at St. Gregors, and I was completely filled and satisfied by the comfort he lavished on me. He constantly was pursuing me, and I finally had to turn back to see he was there the whole time.
After this day, I made a conscious effort to have time with my Jesus every day, and through that time, he showed me how much he loved me and how important it is to have that intimate relationship with him. I knew things in my heart had shifted when I woke up one morning and the first thought on my brain, was “Goodmorning Jesus, I love you!”
I had fallen back in love. Every time I think of him, I smile.
If you’ve ever been in love, you know how totally consuming it is. And let me tell you, it is great.
I know that I will have my ups and downs for the rest of my life, but Lord, I never want to leave this love. I never want to miss out on the scandalous, butterfly-giving love that you so desperately want to give me. I will sing songs of praise and thanksgiving, and I will joyfully dance before you all the days of my life.
