The first time I left for the World Race it was easy. This time it’s been a little more difficult. Before I start hurting feelings or anything, let me explain.
Last time I was living at home and working as a 3rd shift cashier at Walmart. Wow. Exciting. I really love my family. I have the cutest niece and nephew in the whole world and my favorite title is Aunt Ashley by far. But life is more than pulling all-nighters at a cash register. When the support came in for that trip, at the last minute… I just powered through and left in a flash. I remember sitting at the airport in Atlanta on my way to Brownsville, Texas and having the reality of life set in for the first time. I was leaving for an indefinite amount of time to travel to destinations unknown with people I barely knew. It was exciting!.JPG)
Fast forward almost three years and I’m about to leave for 3 months, travel to several new places in the Caribbean and southeast Asia, and I’m going with 53 unique individuals that I’ve started bonding with in the past few months. It’s still exciting.
The difference is what I’m leaving behind. For the past year I’ve been living in Georgia and working at AIM with my closest friends. It’s real community. We have dinners together, carpool to work, hang out and play games by the fireplace, and pray and worship together. I already have what people go on the World Race to find.
There have been a few instances this year where one of us will take off for some reason. Maybe it’s a mission trip, maybe it’s for a visit with family, or maybe it’s for an evening out with “other friends.” There’s then a hole at the dinner table. There is one less player for “Settlers of Catan.” There is a part of our body that’s missing. None of us are big fans of those feelings.
I’ve grown in my walk with the Lord this year because of my community. I have learned what it means to be okay with not being okay. I have people around me that love me no matter what. Sometimes I can be a jerk…especially when we play games. They call me out on my foolishness and love me anyway. They even let me come back and play the next night. I never have to walk very far to find somebody who wants to pray with me. Any by pray I mean the kind of prayers where they sit down and listen to the Lord and pray about stuff that I haven’t even mentioned to anybody yet. When I don’t feel well I don’t have to worry about cooking or cleaning. I just get to sit back and enjoy the chocolate milk somebody dropped off – one of those comforts they know I like.
Basically I’m more like Jesus because of my community… my friends who live like Him and help me to do the same.
So even though I’m full of excitement to lead this squad, totally ready to be used by God in the nations, and stoked for the adventures ahead…. I’m sad.
This time following and obeying will cost something.
In the end, it’s worth it. I’m probably set up to grow and learn even more this time around because of the cost. My friends that I am leaving behind are the kind of friends that love me more because I’m willing to leave. They are the kind of friends that even though it’s hard for them to say goodbye too, wou
ldn’t show their sadness because they wouldn’t want to make me think they weren’t supportive.
n I get back and have missed out on what God has done in their lives and ministries.
Michael Hindes, the director of The World Race, talks about transition a lot. He likes to talk about Samuel getting a coat that was too big for him and having to grow into that coat. Just as you grow into the coat you get a bigger one and the process starts all over again. (You’ll have to see Michael for all the detailed notes.) I’m about to step into a bigger coat. I don’t want to pull a Chris Farely and be a big fat guy in a little coat.
So thanks friends for supporting me and loving me. I look forward to what God does in these next few months. I have a feeling it’s much more than we can imagine. Now that’s exciting!
