When we were preparing to come home in our final weeks of the Race, some people who had already finished the trip, like our squad mentor, told us it would all feel like a dream once we arrived in the United States. It’s been about a week since I’ve touched down on U.S. soil, and I must say they were telling the truth. There are so many sights and sounds and experiences that feel surreal at this point. I know it’s all real, but it seems a bit hazy at the moment.
On top of the strange and abrupt change of scenery, parts of my heart are now scattered across many states. My friends who I spent 24 hours a day and 7 days a week with have returned home too, most of them hours and hours away.
I saw miracles Ive never seen. I experienced unbelievable warm hospitality. I heard testimonies of healing physically and emotionally. It’s all so fresh in my mind and somehow also seems distant.
While I’ve been processing and transitioning and all that good, hard stuff, something that hasn’t left my mind is the new adventure ahead and the consistency of my God. As obvious as it may be, I know that God is just as present here as in the once in a lifetime adventures I’ve experienced the past 11 months. I’m clinging to how God is so perfectly and constantly in our midst, the mighty one who will save. I’m thankful how God loves to rejoice over us with gladness, to quiet us with love, to exult over us with loud singing. These are beautiful pieces of God’s character that do not change depending on me. Praise God! Though my emotions are fickle and my environment is ever-changing, I trust in the God of the universe who loves me because God is God and not because of anything I could possibly do or achieve.
Though I’m so very thankful for these mountains (and valleys) I experienced this year, I am learning more and more about the beauty of the Lord in the mundane and not just in the adrenaline rush experiences. I get to say, “hello adventure,” in this new season, because that’s just what God loves to do– new things for God’s people and to give good gifts to God’s children.
A passage that I love and keep in mind is Isaiah 43:18-18:
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
And a trick I’mlearning is to have eyes that truly see the gifts of the Lord. I want to have a thankful heart and spiritual eyes for the goodness of the Lord all around me. When I wake up each day, I get to be excited and grateful for what lies ahead. It doesn’t always get easier. Or less painful. And the world around us certainly doesn’t get less broken. But I’m truly aiming for choosing joy and taking heart in the Savior who chose to go to the cross for us. So, I’ll forever be thankful for the healings, the deliverances, the spiritual gifts birthed and sharpened, and most certainly the people and places that I might never see again but changed my life. I witnessed so much in others and know that I changed so much for the better, too. I will remember it all for eternity, and I thank God and my supporters who called me to it and made it happen. Right now, I’ll be content to live in the in between. I’m on a high from the previous season, full of stories and fresh with change, but I also look forward to the adventures ahead. Day by day, the Lord’s mercies are new, and I get to wake up being fully sure of a good purpose for me. What a life for us all to live! That makes me say, “bring it on” to all that lies ahead in this new season in Waco. And “bring it on” to the rest of my life, constantly in the presence of the God who saves.
Also, a final THANK YOU for your prayers and support during this season! I cannot say thanks enough. So many of you are who made it possible for me to go on this trip, and I will remember it forever.
