I have learned something new about God while on The World Race, and it’s beautiful. Let me explain.
Our lives in the modern day of interconnectedness and productivity are full of tasks, projects, thoughts, work, unrest; etc.
A few weeks ago my squadmates and I were up at 3:30 A.M. getting dressed and ready to leave for a week long adventure in a far off
jungle known as Talamanca. 4 A.M. arrives and we are loading our 20+ full backpacks into a small white truck. 4:30, and we are
loading ourselves onto a bus that will drive us 8 hours into the jungle. 8 hours later, 12:30 P.M. hits, and we reach our base in Talamanca.
We didn’t know what we were doing there, but we had a “yes” in our hearts and were ready for whatever this week had in store.
The following day, the men’s team woke up at 5:00 A.M. to prepare breakfast for our squad, this being the first task of many that day.
Soon after breakfast, we devoted time to the Lord, reading scripture and recieving a message from one of our squadmates.
Soon after, we are told that we are going to visit the house of a man, Jorje, who lived deep in the jungle, a solid few hours away
from our base. We put on our rain boots, got our bibles, guitars, and began walking.
The walk was beautifully brutal. We walked for hours under the canopy of the trees, being totally surrounded by trees, and civilization seeming
like a distant memory. Walking in the humidity in knee deep mud had me questioning, Was I focused on the
destination, or the journey? Our objective was to get to Jorje’s house, speak Christ’s love over him, then pray and worship a bit. Was that why
God brought me there? It wasn’t clear to me until, after a few hours of walking, we show up to Jorje’s house, and he wasn’t there.
Was our time wasted? Some may say yes, however I find inherant beauty in the journey that we get to walk, called life.
As I sat down in Jorje’s yard, exhausted. I sit down on a log next to some of my sisters, and we begin to worship. This is where the beautiful lesson
that God has taught me comes in.
As my brothers began playing the guitar, one voice begins to sing a praise to the Lord. That one voice becomes two, and two, three, and shortly after
all brothers and sisters were singing, praising, and thanking God for all that He had done, not only that day, but in our whole lives.
This is where God had revealed to me something so sweet and awe inspiring about his character. I realized that in our lives, our busy, task oriented
lives; sometimes, God will culminate His incredible beauty into One Moment.
After our exhausting, and rewarding week in Talamanca, we came home and were graciously offered to take a day off (just the men) and spend it at our base host’s Doug and Renee’s house. Their condo with A/C and a pool was a welcome change after sweating ourselves to sleep in a room full of bats. Yes, I said bats.
Our time at Doug and Renee’s was amazing. We spent time with just our team, and some of our mentors whom we dearly love, Kevin, Paul, and Matt.
We sat around the tv and watched football, drank coke, ate cheeseburgers, and macaroni until we couldn’t eat any more. The stark contrast of the two
weeks was mind jostling to say the least.
The rest of the evening was spent in the pool, talking about how our time on The Race has been going. We sat in the pool talking until we were chilled to the bone. We got out right about the time that the sun was just setting. After everyone got out of the pool, and ran inside to warm up, my brother Nathan and I found that there was an indoor shower near the pool. Neither of us had taken a hot shower in a few weeks, and after freezing in the pool, there seemed to be nothing sweeter than a hot shower. We sat under the hot water in the shower for what felt like forever, talking about the simple things in life that can bring so much joy, and healing. Like how incredible the feeling of a hot shower is when you are cold. Or the feeling of a hug from a loved one, when you need to be held. Like hearing the words “I love you” when you feel worthless. Like how there’s no better feeling in life to go through something hard, uncomfortable, or challenging and then receiving the one thing you want, comfort.
After the shower, we walked out to the top of the staircase, and before heading down to go back inside, Nathan and I stopped to look at the city lights, shining in the darkness. The cool breeze blowing on our skin, the peaceful silence of the night had descended upon us. The stars in the sky shining.
It was then, that God revealed to me, that his beauty can sometimes culminate into one moment.
One moment, where time stops. A moment where all of your troubles, worries, all of life comes to a standstill.
And for that moment, you just have a sense that everything is going to be okay. Peace falls over you.
You look at your life, and are grateful for everything that God has done, you have a surreal sense of this
crazy thing called life. A sense that you are alive, and that you have been put here for a purpose, a sense that
life is good.
These moments can be anytime, anywhere. I find that these moments are what life is truly all about.
In my life, I find these moments in many things. I find it in the cool breeze on a sunny day, the warm embrace
in a hug shared with someone I love, and who loves me. The stars on a clear night, that make me feel tiny in this
universe, and give a sense that there is something greater than what is seen in this world.
I encourage you to look for these moments in your life, appreciate the little things, because sometimes the little things are all we have.
We only get one shot at this life on earth, so enjoy it. Do what you love, God didn’t make us to be machines,
slaving away for a job that would replace us in a second. He made us to dream, to live, to love. He created us to love
Him, and to marvel at His love for us. So in everything you do, look for that one moment.
