This is starting to be really real. My room has been packed up (for the most part) and my things are safely tucked in the corner of my mom’s garage. My bag has been packed and repacked and repacked and repacked (not exaggerating) and though I’m still not completely content with it, I’m going with it for now.
This week has been good: steady and normal-feeling. But I suppose that’s what I’d really want out of my last few days here. I spent time with friends: in groups and one-on-one. I watched tv with Wilks. I packed and repacked (you know the story) while Molly and Wilks kept me company and laughed with me. I enjoyed good food and great conversation.
It hasn’t felt like a meteor was landing. There’s been no giant display of emotion. Yet words have been chosen with purpose. Hugs have lingered. Opportunities have been taken. This is what I want to be about; how I want to structure my life. What would it be like if I lived each moment like I was leaving on the World Race the very next week? I’d find urgency in keeping appointments and being true to my word. I’d be truly present in each conversation: cell phone tucked securely in my bag. I’d try octopus and light sparklers and dance in the cold just because it was Friday. I’d enjoy food and really appreciate the warmth of my bed.
Perhaps it’s been easier to live that way because I recognize that just around the corner lives a season of excitement and joy and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Residing with that though is the possibility of extreme discomfort, hard conversations, sadness and stretching growth. But isn’t that life? Each moment that we are given to live is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In many ways, your next week holds just as much unknown as mine. Maybe you’ve been at the same job or in the same relationship or attending the same school for years. Maybe it feels like your life often contains a whole lot of “same”. Or maybe you’re so sick of change and the unknown that you can feel your stomach churning at the very thought of how you might pay that bill or what upheaval will come in your relationships.
Take heart. We’re all living the unknown. There is no guarantee of success or failure in the future. More likely, we will each be served up a hearty mix of both. The only guarantee is that God’s grace sustains and the most beautiful thing of all is that it’s enough. It’s enough for success and failure and weakness and pain. In fact, the Bible says that the grace and power of God is made perfect in our weakness. It’s enough for 11 countries and 11 months. It’s enough for 365 days of “same”. It’s enough for turmoil and upheaval. It’s enough for me. It’s enough for you.
What are you facing just around this corner? What would your ideal “last week” consist of? Would you consider accepting a challenge to live with intention this week and see how God moves?
