When my best friend and I were little, we hung a sign on our treehouse that said, “No Normal People Allowed.” I was thinking about that the other night while sitting in the hotel in Atlanta during launch, where my roommates and I had been packing and talking about how it felt to be on the eve of our World Race departure. I’ve been preparing for the Race for so long that it had begun to feel almost normal. Looking at my 45 pound pack that represented all of my worldly possessions for the next 11 months, and thinking of my one-way ticket out of the country the next day, all I could think was, “This is definitely NOT normal!”
Luckily, normality has never really been my thing. If I wanted life as normal, I would’ve stayed in my small town with my steady job. Of course, that’s sounded pretty good at times in the craziness of the past few months. It was such a relief to go through launch building relationships with my team and squad, being reminded that I’m not crazy for doing this. Or at least that I’m not the only crazy one. Leaving home was hard, but by the time I was sitting in my hotel room my last night in the States, all I could think was Mary Oliver asking, “What will you do with your one wild and precious life?”
So no, I don’t feel much like a “normal” person right now. I’m about to board a plane that will drop me in Central America for the next 4 months. In May, another will leave me in Thailand, then South Africa a few months after that. Life isn’t normal right now, but it’s good, and I’m at peace. I don’t know what I’m going to do with my one wild and precious life, but just look what I get to do with the next 11 months of it!
Do normal people go on the World Race? I think so. Normal life should be walking in God’s presence, no matter where you do it. We’re just called to do it in a more unusual lifestyle, for this season at least.
Thank you for your continued prayers. It’s a comfort knowing they will be with me, as well as DeAnna, Alexis, Hillary, Jan Carlo, Sasha, and Ray as we serve with Street Revolution in Guatemala City over the next 3 weeks. I don’t know what my internet access will be like, but I will be posting updates about the ministry there as soon as I can!
