Everyone that has been on the World Race always advises those of us who are preparing to leave to completely ditch our expectations. Well friends, that’s a whole lot easier said than done.
Going into anything, we all have certain expectations or pictures in our minds about what it’s going to be like. And when it doesn’t turn out just the way we thought it would, we get disappointed. I am trying to not have specific ideas of what the year will exactly be like. But I am not completely ditching all of my expectations. In light of that, I thought I’d lay them all out nice and early so I can look back on them. They’re simple, really. Without further ado, here is what I am expecting for my race:
- God is going to do big things.
- I am going to be changed.
- There will be good times and bad times, and times in-between.
- I’ll experience close community.
- There will be tons of variables.
There you have it! Yes, it’s a vague and pretty short list. I really (really) don’t know what to expect for this trip. Instead of trying to figure that out, I am going to drop all the specific expectations- and simply be expectant. I know that God is going to show up in big ways, but I don’t know how. But I am trusting that it will be in ways that I can’t even imagine right now. I cannot wait to see Him work! I know I will be a different person coming back. The World Race is going to transform my life in unfathomable ways. How? I don’t know. But I do know that I will be closer to the person that God is transforming me into. I will be learning more and more about myself each day.
I am not so naive to as to say that the entire nine months will be an adventure. There will be some really awesome and crazy adventures to be had, but it is going to be real life. I’m still going to be brushing my teeth in the morning and doing other pretty normal, mundane things. But I do know that there will be things I have never seen or done before… and it is going to be incredible! There are also going to be awfully hard times. There will be times where I will wish I could be back in my nice, comfortable American life with my family and friends. But God is going to place these trials and hardships in my journey for a reason.
I am also super pumped to meet my squad, and to find out who will be on my team! Literally doing life together- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week- for nine entire months will make us into quite the makeshift family. There will be tons of inside jokes, deep talks, and laughing-until-my-stomach-hurts nights. We will get annoyed with each other like brothers and sisters do (did I mention how excited I am to get to finally have brothers?!). It’s raw, raw community. And I am so excited for that aspect of the race.
And sure, I could have listed out every little detail I’ve thought about or that people have asked me about… Where are you going to sleep? What kind of food will you be eating? What will the people you’ll be traveling with be like? What cities will you be in? What exactly will you be doing?
I don’t know yet.
So, although all of those thoughts have crossed my mind, I’m trying to leave all of those expectations behind. Some of my family members are constantly concerned with knowing what is going to happen next, especially on trips. So when someone asks a question like “Where are we sleeping tonight?” or “Is so-and-so going to be there?” and we don’t know the answer, we just laugh a sarcastically and shout, “variables!” …So I’ve decided to do that with my race.
What countries are you going to? Variables!
Who are you going with? Variables!
What kind of ministry will you be doing? Variables!
I’ve found that it is a good thing to laugh about the variables. They’re just going to be little whimsical surprises throughout preparation and the race itself. I’m okay with going into it blindly and expectantly.
