It’s been 2.5 years since I returned home
from the World Race. My life has changed dramatically from November 2007
to now, and not necessarily in ways that I’m entirely proud of. I’ve
drifted, I’ve wandered, and I’ve fallen. While the World Race was hands
down one of the best experiences of my life, I somehow managed to
relegate it to the back of my mind as “That trip I took a couple years
ago”, and it hasn’t made much of a tangible impact on the way I’ve lived
my life since returning home. I got a job, became a mother, and
attempted to build a home and have a “stable, predictable, and normal”
life. But it never felt right. There was no peace, no satisfaction, and
no contentment…deep in my heart I knew I was missing out on the LIFE
that i had experienced when i was living out of a backpack, no plans for
tomorrow, experiencing intense church community, and living with the
daily focus of others over self. I have felt selfish and empty. No
matter how
hard I tried, I could never shake the truth that i knew that I was
created for something more…more than a safe and predictable 9-5 job,
more than just church on Sundays, and much more than the security of
planning and controlling the details of my future. But through it all,
God has never left
me, and He has been steadily wooing me and drawing me back to His heart.
I feel like my heart, my passion, my desire for LIFE (the abundant life that only HE can give) is beginning to
come alive again.
from the World Race. My life has changed dramatically from November 2007
to now, and not necessarily in ways that I’m entirely proud of. I’ve
drifted, I’ve wandered, and I’ve fallen. While the World Race was hands
down one of the best experiences of my life, I somehow managed to
relegate it to the back of my mind as “That trip I took a couple years
ago”, and it hasn’t made much of a tangible impact on the way I’ve lived
my life since returning home. I got a job, became a mother, and
attempted to build a home and have a “stable, predictable, and normal”
life. But it never felt right. There was no peace, no satisfaction, and
no contentment…deep in my heart I knew I was missing out on the LIFE
that i had experienced when i was living out of a backpack, no plans for
tomorrow, experiencing intense church community, and living with the
daily focus of others over self. I have felt selfish and empty. No
matter how
hard I tried, I could never shake the truth that i knew that I was
created for something more…more than a safe and predictable 9-5 job,
more than just church on Sundays, and much more than the security of
planning and controlling the details of my future. But through it all,
God has never left
me, and He has been steadily wooing me and drawing me back to His heart.
I feel like my heart, my passion, my desire for LIFE (the abundant life that only HE can give) is beginning to
come alive again.
For the last few weeks I have been pouring over blogs from current
and past World Racers and my heart is once again being stirred. As i
click from page to page, across different squads and different teams in
different countries all over the world, I am blown away by the common
theme of how God uses this crazy trip called the World Race to change
our views of what we thought was important in life, to strip away all
the things that keep us from living fully alive and to allow us to
discover the joy of living life fully abandoned to Him and His purposes
for our lives. We quickly realize that it’s not about us, and begin to
develop a broader view of church, love, and the power of grace and
redemption in the lives of people who come to know him.
and past World Racers and my heart is once again being stirred. As i
click from page to page, across different squads and different teams in
different countries all over the world, I am blown away by the common
theme of how God uses this crazy trip called the World Race to change
our views of what we thought was important in life, to strip away all
the things that keep us from living fully alive and to allow us to
discover the joy of living life fully abandoned to Him and His purposes
for our lives. We quickly realize that it’s not about us, and begin to
develop a broader view of church, love, and the power of grace and
redemption in the lives of people who come to know him.
Next month i will have the privilege of volunteering at the
upcoming World Race training camp, and words cannot describe how excited
I am to once again be surrounded by the community of AIM and the World
Race. This is the start of a new chapter for me, and it will no doubt be
a life changing one. God is up to something in me, and while I
can’t exactly articulate what’s happening, I feel like the little
flicker that was nearly snuffed out is now being gently
fanned back to life. He is moving, He is stirring, and He is drawing my
heart back to him. I am starting to feel alive again, and want nothing
more than to wake up every day with purpose knowing that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing with my life.
