~ I shared this word with my awesome squad at their final debrief in China. The whole week was an epic ending to an incredible journey. You have finished well T-Squad. And I sincerely love you all. I hope my words encouraged you and showed you how much you truly mean to me. ~
If this were your college graduation commencement, you would most likely hear typical statements such as “Congratulations, you did it!” Or, “Now it’s time for you to go out into the world.” But I understand that for this past year, no words here could adequately describe the experience you’ve just had. After hours in the hot sun breaking apart used bricks in Transnistria, or the long cramped ride home from a remote village in God-knows-where India, what could one possibly say after such an unorthodox, unique and life-changing year?
If you’ll admit it, you have just crammed about 3-4 years of personal growth into less than a year of your life. In fact when I’ve been asked to summarize my time on my original race, I’ve found myself giving people that as my answer. It’s like a few years of personal growth all lumped into one year. The World Race is like a pressure cooker for the Christian faith.
And look around you, because for better or for worse, these are the people that we have lived with and ministered with for the past year of our lives. God has brought these people along your path for a reason. When you signed up for this squad, unbeknownst to you, God was up to something. He knew this was the very thing and these were the very people that you needed in your life. There’s no doubt in my mind that God hand picked each of you to carry out His mission with T squad.
And with those surrounding you tonight, you’ve learned to be okay with uncomfortable situations and conversations. You’ve learned to not simply sweep things under the rug as we’ve often learned at home. You’ve learned how to communicate well, and most importantly, I pray you’ve learned to take correction well. Craving the words you need to hear instead the words you want to hear is a mature place to be. It takes a lot of humility to let others speak honestly into your life. It’s not any easy thing to do, but it is surely worth it.
You’ve also learned to be ok with failure. That it’s okay to make mistakes. It’s ok to make a fool of yourself sometimes. Because heck, at least you’re trying! At least you had the courage to give something a shot. One of the best reminders I’ve ever been given is that God has not called me to be successful, He has called me to be faithful.
One of Kerry’s favorite quotes and one that Carly also challenged me with last year is the infamous Man In the Arena quote by Teddy Roosevelt. He says this: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
And if you learned anything from me, although let’s be honest it can’t be a whole lot, it’s that the world race is what you make of it. Well, the race is over now, so guess what? The rest of your life is what you make of it. And I’m not discounting God’s sovereignty at all, trust me. We always need to humble ourselves and our plans before Him and realize He is truly the great orchestrator of it all. But if you weren’t acting like an adult when you started this race, I trust you are now. I pray that you’ve learned to not sit around and wait for someone else to move, not to wait for others to make your life awesome. God has equipped you with a heart and mind to be a force for good. Don’t follow the rest of our generation down a cynical path. Do your part to make this world a better place. I pray that you’ve learned to choose to be positive in any and all situations. Too choose to make the best of all things, in all circumstances.
And I hate to say this, but frankly, this year has ruined you for anything less than awesome. Your standards for community, friendship, adventure, the Christian life, I hope they’re now sky high! But one of the dangers that can come with this is getting a little too judgmental when you get home. Remember, most of your friends and family haven’t learned the lessons you’ve learned, or had the experiences you’ve had. Much like our egos get over-inflated when we finish a degree, or get a great paying job, or get to date someone that we think is really awesome, our pride can quickly get in the way. We can too often forget that it is only God who has done these amazing works in our life. Believe that He can do it in others as well. So as you arrive home, please be patient with those around you, and as always, extend lots and lots of grace!
Now that you have this new standard for awesome thanks to the world race, you may think that this year will be very hard to top. But guess what, He’s gonna do it. Ephesians 3:20-21 tells us that God will do “immeasurably more than all we could ask, think, or imagine.” Ponder that for a moment… After a year like this, that’s a pretty grand promise. So get excited for the future. When I would talk about my graduation commencement at school, I was always referring to that word commencement as if it means the end. But that word actually means to begin. So instead of thinking of tonight as a closing ceremony, instead think of it as opening day. Think of the World Race as just the very beginning of a radical life of faith.
My team leader Wade, who is now one of my best friends, refers to his relationship with the Lord as an Endless Pursuit. He tells me that if he ever writes a book that would be his title, the Endless Pursuit. He and I would talk often of how our life of faith is a never ending journey it seems like, continually learning new lessons and being repeatedly blown away by our awesome God. In our world today, we always want to arrive, or just get something over with. It’s one of the downsides of the affluent western culture we grew up in, the land of instant gratification. What we often forget is that God is writing a story, with all the ups and downs that that entails. If you read Scripture all the way through, you’ll realize that it’s a story. And if you’ll let Him, he has a marvelous story He wants to write for you as well.
T.S. Elliot put it best when he said:
“We shall not cease from exploration,
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
There will be a lot of things calling when you get home. So make sure that in every decision you make and every path you take, you make every effort to carry the name of Jesus wherever you go. Remember that where you go isn’t what makes you a missionary; the mission you are on is what makes you a missionary. So whether you end up in Chicago or Chiang Mai, or Austin or Coleraine, God has demanded that you proclaim His Kingdom as best you can, with everything you’ve got. Because statistics tell us that we’ve got just seventy to eighty years on this earth, so let’s make it count for eternity.
T-squad, y’all are incredible. I can’t thank you enough for allowing me to learn and grow through all of this. The greatest gift I’ve ever received was in May of last year when I got assigned to this squad. And if I haven’t said it directly to you yet, I love each and every one of you. I truly mean that.
Each and every one of you are fearfully and wonderfully made. So don’t let anyone or anything in this world hold you back from being everything that God has designed you to be. Whatever successes may come in the future, or whatever storms you may find yourself in, keep pressing on and keep holding tight to the one who holds it all together. Embrace the future with a spring in your step and a smile on your face. And promise me that when you wake up each new morning when you get back home, that you’ll always remember the love that you have graciously and mercifully been given by our awesome God. This love, it’s so amazing, it’s so divine. It demands your life, your soul, your all.
