Or at least that's what the nice folks told us at training camp. End well. But what does that really mean? There are times in everyone's lives where we transition from one season to another. Most notable, usually, being the move from home to college after graduating high school, or the switch after college to the working life. I experienced bittersweet goodbyes through those transitions in my life, but I have to admit that I've never experienced transition like I am right now leading up to World Race launch. Ending well.
So here I am. The night before I board a plane bound for Georgia once again. All the January 2014 racers are about to meet again in Atlanta for one last hoorah and a bit more training, and in 5 days time, I will be standing in Zambia, Africa. The lead up to this moment has been busy and hectic. Buying last minute gear, getting storage and belongings squared away, making sure financials are in order, and putting all the other little details of life on hold for the rest of the year. This isn't even the most difficult, as it is all just things, after all. What has been the most difficult is being intentional with friends and family, making every second count, and saying goodbyes or see-ya-laters. This isn't moving away from home to go to college. This is leaving everything that makes us comfortable here in the United States to go out and spread the Gospel, to go out and be Jesus to people. Ending well.
It hasn't been easy. Things left unsaid are finally said. Things left undone are finally done. Not things-wise, but relational-wise. If it is one thing that God has showed me leading up to this moment, it is that relationship is everything. Ministry doesn't matter, how many people you lead to Christ, how beautiful your prayers are, how good your works look… if you don't focus on relationship, not just with God, but everyone around you, then it is all for nothing. In my NIV bible, 1 Corinthians 13 is headed with the phrase "Love is Indispensable". The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines indispensable as not subject to being set aside or neglected; absolutely necessary. Love is absolutely necessary, as in, without it, nothing else even matters. So for me, ending well has been a process of learning how to love people differently, changing perspective to see people the way God does, love on people and cherish these last few moments together before this amazing journey begins.
Ending well. I think it is simple: Live well. Unconditional acceptance and love of the people that matter to you, and all the people around you. Be Jesus to people.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
