Here are letters from two of my sister’s squadmates!
Dear 4th Generation X-Squad,
When Bethany asked us to write to y’all I immediately got super excited and then almost in the same heartbeat was filled with instant anxiety. Finally the chance to word vomit all of my feelings and thoughts to those who would benefit the most from it – Racers fresh off the field – but also, dang, what a daunting task.
You are so fresh, still sunburned and with a dirt-stained pack full of clothes that will forever smell hand washed/febreezed. You thought you were done being stretched and learning about yourself – But Welcome Home.
Coincidentally, I’m writing this sitting in an airport after a weekend with three of my closest friends from the Race. We spent some time reminiscing about our time on the Race but even more time talking about our lives that had nothing to do with the Race.
Post Race, one of us got married, one of us bought a house, one of us moved across the country, and one of us is walking through her best friend’s cancer returning. We have grieved mournfully and celebrated joyously together.
The Race is 11 months out of your life and then you have the rest of it. I am currently two years into ‘the rest of it’ and I can tell you that I am nowhere I thought I would be in my life. But because of the Race I have people who get to navigate it with me.
The Lord told me at training camp I would write a book, so I blogged with that thrilling thought in mind while I was on the field. And you know what I did when I came home from the Race? Did not write a damn thing.
Because when you come home, you lose the whether-you-wanted-it-or-not close-knit community of your squad mates sleeping on the floor right next to you challenging you to keep writing. The ones challenging you to be inspired and write outside of your comfort zones, to look for the story in everything and who share and live the stories with you.
I do not know what it was for you that you found on the Race. What you found the Lord brought out in you that you did not know was there to be inspired by and lit your heart on fire. But I want to sit here and encourage you that the fire does not get extinguished just because your Race environment and community changes. Let it keep burning hotter and brighter than every before.
When you go home, if you didn’t like who you were before the Race, don’t put yourself in situations that you were in before the Race. You changed leaps and bounds, but chances are the people at home didn’t that much.
Coming home from the Race you will crave comfort wherever you can at times. Comfort comes in many forms, but a big piece of it is familiarity and safety. If you want to retain who you became, then you can’t let yourself fall back into who you were. Give yourself grace and time, but also don’t give yourself that safety forever.
Come home with no expectations and give your people grace. Don’t take up the mantel that no one will understand you (of course they won’t) or that you are alone in this (you are not). Playing the martyr will do very little to help your heart settle in to whatever its new normal is.
Do not compare your re-entry process to anyone else. Do not expect yourself to be anywhere else but exactly where you are at. Let the Lord grow you from there, not where you think you need to be.
Your story is yours and no one else’s. And that is the book Jesus wants to write in with you as you enter into to this post-World Race chapter.
So promise reunions ands follow up on them, write blogs in airports, take the time to find out what is most important to you and make decisions based off of that. Write your never-ending story with the Lord and make each chapter full of rich detail because you let Him be in the driver’s seat of it.
For me, whenever the Lord takes me somewhere new it is for someone to influence and love me or for me to influence and love someone else.
When you begin to question why you are where you are – go find those people, because they are your answer.
Now go hug a washing machine, don’t question where the toilet paper goes, and enter into whatever is the ‘rest of it’ for you.
Sincerely,
Kelly Anne
Dear X-Squad,
One of the biggest things that help me coming home from the Race was that I gave myself time to rest and catch up with friends and family before jumping into the next thing. I took a month to readjust to the American culture and process what happened. I trusted God to take care of me and provide for my next step. He was faithful.
Also, I encourage you to keep the change. It will be easy to slip back into life the way it was before you left. You will find most things and people are the same as when you left. You are different. You must do things different or you may fall back into the same old routines and patterns and lifestyle. Figure out how to be the new you at home or wherever you go.
It’s a new season and God has new things to teach you and more people for you to love and impact. Keep doing the Kingdom work wherever you are. Find community. Keep practicing gratitude. Reach out to your world race family to help you with the transition. If you are struggling, you are not alone. Others are struggling too. Talk and get the help and support you need.
Praying for y’all!
-Andrea
