This story doesn’t start with me being on the World Race.
It starts about 4 years ago when I graduated high school.
I had always been a happy go-lucky type of person. I had emotions of sadness and anger just like the next person, but for me; nothing could bring me down.
My senior year was a roller coaster of emotions, because life throws us curve balls, but I still had that same attitude that everything happens for a reason. There was really no reason to not be happy.
When I graduated high school, I decided it was time to find a different job than the one I had had the last 3 years. I applied at a lot of places, but ended up landing a job at Sam’s Club.
Now, this is not a story of how the club made me lose my joy, it’s about life.
Over the next 4 years I would pour my heart and soul into this job. I would be overcome with joy and sadness as people would come and go. I would be defeated because even though I tried really hard at things, I would still fail. I would be over the moon excited because I would work really hard to accomplish something and succeed.
Outside of work I would go to church when I could. I spent a lot of my time going on road trips, spending time with my family and holding on to the relationship I had with Jesus while occasionally doing things that would fill up my soul.
I thought I was doing great.. On any other day at the club, one of the people I had worked with told me “you aren’t as happy as you used to be”. (This person had left the club for awhile and got rehired a year or so later). I was a bit shocked at that statement.
When did I lose that? Why did I lose it?
I pondered on that thought for awhile. The same person made the comment again a few weeks later.
In all his glory God set a new fire in my soul. I had come across the race a few times, but always thought it was too much money and I’d never be able to do it.
Another messenger said to me “If it’s something you want to do, you should really do it”.
So, I took that message and ran with it. That day I called my ole friend Missy and asked her if I could take a year long leave of absence. Like any person she thought something was wrong, but I told her everything was fine and what I wanted to do. The answer was YES!
I went home that day and applied for the race. I started a journey that day that would reignite the joy in my life that had been missing. Something the Lord had planned for me that I didn’t even know I had needed so badly.
I went to training camp for 10 days in October, met the people I’d spend the next year with, and made not so great impressions on people.
As the year has progressed more and more people tell me that I’ve changed so much. Sometimes I don’t see it, but as I pursue a deeper relationship with God and learn to love people on an unconditional level instead of a conditional love I feel the joy coming back.
I see now that when you aren’t pursuing Jesus you can lose yourself. You can lose sight of what God has for you because you’re too busy trying to obtain all of the things you want for yourself.
Don’t spend so much time without Jesus that you lose who you really are.
Don’t let the world steal your joy like I let it steal mine. Be so deeply rooted in Christ that the world can’t steal your Joy.
And in everything you do, see the Joy. Because it’s out there.
