So I was pretty overwhelmed with the prospect of writing a “final blog” for my Race.
I wanted to express my eternal gratitude to my donors and supporters, my beloved hosts, the beautiful people I have encountered all over the world, my precious teams, incredible I Squad…and the list goes on and on.
I had not even the slightest inclination with how to express all I was feeling about this experience coming to a end.
To be honest part of me is overwhelmed with joy to see my family and friends again. However, there is also a large part of me that feels like my right arm is being ripped off because I am being separated from all my family and friends of the past year.
Pretty conflicting emotions, wouldn’t you say?
However, even as I thought about writing a “re-entry” blog, it didn’t sit right. I thought about writing a packing tips blog; that didn’t sit right. I thought about writing a “LOL” Race moments blog; nope, that didn’t sit right either.
And then, so beautifully, I felt Jesus whisper, “What about Me?”
Oh precious Jesus.
Here’s the deal folks: at the end of the day, every other blog means nothing, every other experience is pointless, every other travel is meaningless. EVERYTHING apart from Jesus means absolutely nothing or as Paul so eloquently put it: It’s crap.
So instead of writing about lesser things, I am going to write about Jesus.
Without further ado, Here we go:
There’s this man I met on the Race for the first time and His name is Jesus.
Oh don’t misunderstand me, I’ve met Jesus before, per say, but not like this. Not like this. You see because for most of my life, I unintentionally put motives and character on Jesus that was unworthy of Him. I made Him in my own image and in doing so I could never let Him fully love me the way He so desires; I could never fully let Him in.
And then I decide to come on the World Race, naively thinking I had this man Jesus figured out. After all, I have been a follower of Jesus for many years, right?
But then as I’m isolated, traveling all over the globe to tell people about this man Jesus, I begin to realize:
Wait.
Maybe I don’t know Jesus like I thought I did.
Maybe this man Jesus is more PURE than I can grasp.
Maybe this man Jesus is more LOVELY than I can fathom.
Maybe this man Jesus is more GOOD than I can comprehend.
Maybe this man Jesus is more than I can understand.
And maybe these maybes aren’t maybes but reality:
Jesus, You ARE beautiful.
Jesus, You ARE pure.
Jesus, You ARE good.
Jesus, You are steadfast.
Jesus, You are holy.
Jesus, You are mercy.
Jesus, You are grace.
Jesus, You are MORE than I can understand and everything about You is perfect.
No malaria, no suffering, no home-sickness, no apathy, no pain, no physical sickness, no dispute, no injustice can EVER alter Who You are and Who You will always be. You will ALWAYS love us because that’s Who You are.
Jesus. Thank You for being Who You are and so much more. Thank You for being far beyond anything I can fully comprehend. Thank You for being infinite so that I can never fully grasp the magnitude of You.
Jesus, thank You for being You.
Y’all. There aren’t human words capable of expressing the breadth of the beauty of Jesus.
Apart from the reality and revelation of Jesus, this Race would’ve been nothing but a very difficult and trying humanitarian trip around the world.
Jesus is what gives everything meaning because He is the meaning behind everything.
My goal with you reading this blog is to see that it’s not about me. It’s not about my squad. It’s not about The World Race. It’s not about Adventures in Missions. It’s not about any mission organization. It’s not about any follower of Christ.
This whole big shebang is about Jesus.
The God who put on flesh and wore Grace as skin. The Man Who dwelt among us. The One Who died and took our place. The Resurrected One.
He’s the One Who sat with me all hours of the night as I battled malaria. He’s the one Who spoke so quietly and lovingly to me as I bawled my eyes out because all I wanted to do was be at home during Christmas. He’s the One Who gently corrects me when I’m being less than He created me to be.
He’s IT.
So as I’m coming home and the journey is coming to a close, the only thing that is truly in my heart is to say thank You to Jesus.
He is the love of my Life. And he’s better than any travel, experience, mission trip, food, drink, desire, passion…He’s better than it all. You cannot find a country in this world that can even attempt to outshine the man Jesus.
I pray that as you read those words, You will give Him the opportunity to wreck Your life like He did mine. He’s worth it.
