The World Race is the adventure of a lifetime. I get to do things and see things that most people won’t do in their lifetime. I went on a free flight around Nepal the other day in hopes of seeing Mt. Everest. Who does that? Not many people. So far, I’ve been to two countries and I’m getting ready to hit my third. Who does that? Not many people. I get the opportunity to sit down with modern day Paul’s and talk about such incredible things that are happening in their worlds. I get to play with the least of these and love on the orphan and care for the widow. I get to dance on a van with 40 Nepali people and my teammates.
While the World Race is an adventure, the coolest adventure of all, it is hard. And here is my open apology to all of you that only see the good on social media. You only see what it is that I want you to see. You don’t see the brokenness. You don’t see the tension in a house of 49 people. You don’t see the spiritual warfare that is happening every single day. You don’t see or hear the dogs fighting at all hours of the night. You don’t know the vulnerability of myself and my teammates. The nights of tears and anger and heartache. The days of disagreements. You don’t see how the Lord is taking each of us through brokenness in our own ways. Brokenness that is harder than anything I ever would have thought it would have been.
So, while the World Race is an incredible adventure it is also a journey of the Lord chipping away the things that aren’t of Him and when the Lord walks you through things like that it is never easy. He parted the Red Sea but it didn’t mean it was an easy journey. The Israelites were exhausted and hungry and old and they still had to run through that sea from Pharaoh and his men. The most beautiful thing about this race isn’t the Himalayan Mountains. It isn’t the fact that I’m going to 11 countries. It isn’t that I can find my way around a city like a local even though that makes me feel like a boss. The most beautiful thing is the community. The sisters and brothers that are on this squad. The ones that walk through the brokenness with me and who I get the opportunity to walk through their brokenness with them. Community. Tough. Beautiful. It brings freedom. It brings the calling of God on my life into action. Community brings the dark things to light. It brings the things that matter into focus and it pushes the things that don’t to the side.
The adventure doesn’t come without a cost.
The adventure requires honesty with myself. Honesty with others. Honesty with God. It requires this thing called vulnerability and that is the scariest thing in the world but I am realizing that honesty and vulnerability is the quickest way to strengthening my relationship with the Lord and bringing freedom into my life. I am thankful the Lord cares for me enough to take me on a journey around the world to breathe life into me that I would have missed if I was still sitting in an office. I am thankful that the World Race isn’t just the fun that I thought it would be. I am thankful that it is the hardest thing that I have ever done. I am thankful that those stony places of my heart are being chipped away even when it hurts and when I don’t understand. Because in those moments I am becoming more and more like Him.
Update: We are leaving Nepal so soon and I can’t believe it. The Lord has been so evident throughout this month. The time is flying by as fast as I thought it would and I can’t believe that I am already stepping into Month 3. Cambodia is the name of the game and a girls home is the playing field. Shout out to my Girls’ Ranch people! I just might feel a little piece of home next month and I am beyond excited about it. Prayers are appreciated for my squad and I as we begin to transition out of this ministry. It is always bittersweet to leave the ones we have come to love over the month and it’s never easy. I love you all!
