Well, we are just about complete with month two of the World Race. Years like these where you aren’t living a “normal” life, working a 9-5, always fly by. My first experience with this concept was my deployment to Iraq. For obvious reasons it was one of the hardest years of my life but it also inexplicably flew by.
So where do I stand two months in? I set out on this journey in anticipation of several things happening. First, I wanted to find complete and utter joy in serving others for no other reason than showing them Christ. I get to wake up every day and my “job” is to minster to the world’s people. I was standing in the church yard last week and it just hit me that this was my job for the year. I legitimately get to pray and serve every day. I started to wonder how the heck I could even go back to “normal” job…good thing I do not have to start thinking about that just yet.
Second, I wanted to be challenged because that is the best way to grow. You might ask why I needed to travel to eleven countries in order to be challenged and the answer is not that I needed to go but rather God was calling me to go so I decided to use this opportunity to push myself in all areas of my life. Let me say I am not at all in the place I thought I would be at the end of month two. I am not entirely sure what I thought this race would look like or where I would be but I can say without hesitation this is not it…in the best way possible.
Regarding ministry I have thoroughly enjoyed this month. I find so much joy in being given a space, the pulpit, to use the voice God has given me to teach and encourage my Rwandese brothers and sisters. I have preached on everything from having and building faith through trials to finding joy in our journeys to the importance of creating a welcoming environment in the church so everyone feels at home. Out of everything I have done thus far on the race preaching is my favorite. I find myself listening to sermons in an entirely different way and wanting so badly to be able to read a verse and create a lesson out of it. All you preachers out there, I give you mad props because it is not the easiest thing to do.
Personal growth. That is a much harder topic to dive into on a blog. The short answer is I am definitely growing. I certainly welcome discomfort more than I did eight weeks ago because I realize it is there for a reason and it will lead to a better me. Part of this year is not just about learning to serve the inhabitants of these different countries but my team and squad as well. Serving the people of the world is easy, at least from my perspective. Serving my team is a bit more difficult. Isn’t it always easier to walk out of your house and serve the world in so many different ways but forget about the people who live in your house? At a certain point the people with whom you are living transition from room mates into family and serving family is just plain weird sometimes. Learning what that looks like and the best ways to serve each individual are a couple of things most racers deal with along the way.
Extremely personal growth. It seems pretty obvious that God is calling me into a higher place of spiritual leadership. Allow me to caveat that sentence with I have no idea exactly what that means or where it will lead. I just know I have had several conversations with my squad leadership (three different people to be specific) and a couple of moments with the Lord and all of it points to the same thing. I need to step it up. Up until now I have sat back, attempting to fully embrace the whole season-of-no-leadership thing. I do not believe I was incorrect in my discernment; I just think the Lord is now ready to do something new. I am totally comfortable with my role on my team/squad so He is going to switch it up. That is how it always works isn’t it? I knew the minute I found comfort He would say, “Okay Jen, time to move on” and that is exactly what He did. Here I am back into some sort of No Man’s Land just waiting for the Lord to reveal what is next. In the meantime I get to sit in that place and thrive. What do I mean by thrive? When I envision this season I see myself sitting in a field that holds a single tree and I am sitting propped up against that tree. The weather is warm, a slight breeze is blowing, I am all alone, and I have my bible in hand.
It is here that my Father is just pouring into me and revealing everything He wants me to know. He talks about my identity, my purpose, my desires, my future, and even the things inside of me He wants to rid me of. In my story No Man’s Land is an amazing place to stay for a while.
Well, there it is. My first two months summed up. There is something about living life outside of the typical constructs where it makes everything both fly and creep by at the same time. It is surreal. It is frustrating. It is beautiful. It is a life worth living.
