Okay, so whether you are have just been accepted to the
race, just been through training camp, or are one of many who are getting ready
to launch in about a week… YOU ARE PROBABLY FREAKING OUT!!! Right?
Been there… done that… so I was just sitting here thinking
of you all, and was recalling some of the emotions and thoughts that I had in
those moments.
– Oh my goodness… is this really happening?
– Did I make the right decision… did I really hear from God…
can I do this?
– Where is all the money going to come from?
-Will I really be able to make it… will I let everyone down?
-Do I even want to do this?
– Can I actually connect with that many people, I mean I
don’t open up easily, am I leaving my closest friends and family behind to do
this crazy thing alone?
If you are having thoughts like these… let me encourage you
and say “YOU ARE RIGHT ON TRACK!”
However, if that isn’t comforting enough… Here are some of the things I
have learned over the past 9 months of my own race.
– As far as I understand, nobody has ever been sent home
from the race because they didn’t have enough money. Just this last month alone, one of the people on my own
squad was down about 7,000 dollars, almost all of which came in within 1 month
of her squad pulling along side of her to ask their friends and family to
help. Which is a reminder,
don’t fight for only your support money, fight for your whole squads.
-These people that you are getting ready to do this with
really will become like family!!
Don’t worry about how… just take it one day at a time… one person at a
time… but I promise you… they’ll become some of your closest people if you want
them to.
-Not everybody has to be your best friend on the race!!!
That’s okay… they’ll all be like family, and you’ll have a bond with all of
them just by doing this together… but it is okay to not be best friends with
every person… so lay that expectation down right now! (Let me just throw in a
little caution note here though…. This is NOT an excuse not to push into
everyone at some level… you still have to do that!)
-If you have signed up for the race, you have probably
already heard the phrase “choose in”, and if you have finished training camp
then you have most definitely heard it.
Trust me, there is a reason that they say to do this, not just to push
you, but because in “choosing in” you’ll find some of the most amazing things
not just about yourself and the people you are with, but the God that you are
on this trip for in the first place!
– The day you leave for the race, for some of you, may feel
like the worst day of your life… however once you are out here… thinking of the
day that you have to go home sounds like it will be the worst day of your life! (For those of you who don’t know me,
this is coming from a girl who is very very close to her family, and has some
amazing people to go home to… you’ll still feel this way)
– NO! You will not let everyone down, and NO! On your own,
you can’t do this… but you’re not doing this ON YOUR OWN… You have a whole
squad of people who are committed to doing this thing with you… and a GOD who
is more committed than anybody else to bring you through it. Practice trusting Him… HE IS
TRUSTWORTHY!
– You DON’T have to have it all figured out right now, and
you won’t… so trust Him and let him exceed your expectations!
-Yes! It will be hard… but it will also be Good!!
This has been the hardest and best year of my life! It has truly been what I didn’t know I
wanted or needed! God is so big
and so faithful… trust Him on this!!
There is so much more to Him than we could ever imagine… You are about
to learn that. You are not just
going on a trip around the World, you are getting ready to go on a journey into
greater intimacy with Jesus!! If
you let Him teach you, and take the reigns in this, He’ll blow you away… and
this will be one of the BEST years of your life. GET EXCITED!!!!!
