Less is More

Packing light has always been a challenge for me.  It never seems to matter how long or short the trip is, I will always end up packing more than I need.  Even after four years of packing for college cross country meets every weekend, I still remember being at the airport for my very last cross country meet as a senior and pulling textbooks out of my bag and throwing them into my coaches’ just so I could get under the 50 lb. limit. And that was for a four day trip.  Four days.  But that’s human nature right?  We want to feel prepared for anything and everything that might happen?

As a World Racer, I am now faced with the task of packing for 11 months abroad, while still keeping to that 50 lb. weight limit.  I knew that would be a challenge from the start, but now as I pack up my gear to leave for training camp this weekend, I’m starting to realize just how much space my tent and sleeping bag take up, and just how little room I have left for clothes or anything else for that matter.

This challenge will without a doubt be a huge life adjustment.  However, no matter how difficult this change will be, I am beyond excited to experience this new lifestyle.  A lifestyle where I can carry my home in a backpack!

(My new home for 11 months!)

A lifestyle, I hope, where I will be less distracted by the every day things I constantly find myself distracted with now.  A lifestyle in which jumping in the car and driving to the store when I need something is no longer an option.  While having the ability to do that now is such a blessing, I know it takes away the dependence I place on Jesus.  I want to experience a lifestyle where I may not have everything I “need” when I need it, but with full dependence on the Lord, still be able to have complete joy in knowing that I’ll always have more than enough in Him.