the world race and how i got here…
if you would have given me a canvas in january of 2010 and told me to paint a picture of what my life would look like in january 2011 i promise you it would not even remotely resemble the painting that is underway. not. at. all.
i had never even heard of adventures in missions and certainly not the world race earlier this year. however, had i heard of either i would have thought that the organization sounded solid and the race…an amazing endeavor that others were embarking on. others. not me. whoops. not for any other reason than that is just not where my life was headed…or so i thought or didn’t think.
the year was in full swing and i was planning life out like i so often do. i am a planner. i make lists, and sometimes on my lists there is an item that reminds to make even another list. i like lists. a lot.
and then i got pedro martinez’d. life threw me a squirrely curve ball and the plans that were underway changed abruptly. swing and a miss. (i thoroughly enjoy sports analogies) painstakingly so, in all honesty. i found myself staring at life’s road map and the route that i had mapped out and suddenly felt like…oh crap…i’ve been holding this thing upside down all along. well, boo. i spent the summer going on mission trips with the students at peachtree road while enjoying a hot atlanta summer surrounded by my amazing community of friends. i am truly blessed in that department! as summer moved along i began looking at my life, where i was going and what was ahead. i found myself looking back while also looking toward the future. i began thinking back to the trip i took to africa in 2007 and how i longed to be back on that continent. i spent a few weeks doing mission work on a small island in the middle of lake victoria and it was there, in one of the poorest places on earth, that i knew my passion was mission work. i left africa, but africa did not leave me. a return was inevitable.
fast forward to early august, i’m poolside with my girlfriends and i am having a conversation about doing field work in africa. my lovely friend tells me about AIM and mentioned the world race. i was online the second i walked through the door. i read about AIM and then i saw the link for the world race. i have a naturally competitive spirit and love running, so just the name was enough to spark immediate interest. but when i clicked on that link it was far more than i ever imagined. i found myself engrossed in the blogs that current “racers” were posting and completely captivated by all of the amazing things being accomplished on behalf of God. awesome.
i wrote this in my support letter…which by the way…was not fun. a daunting task if i’m being one hundy percent honest. i digress. asking for financial support is necessary sans any sort of fun. the world race, to me, is hope. it’s the rare opportunity to be submerged into some of the poorest nations on the planet and share a message of love while offering aid to the needy in a multitude of ministries. it’s about improving lives. serving like jesus did. going into the dirty, poverty stricken corners of the world and offering a helping hand, words of encouragement and love. it’s reshaping lives. an offering of hope. it’s construction. it’s dirty. it’s hot. it’s hard. it’s grace, mercy and joy. joy that was created by God and offered through a team of strangers. it’s about loving your neighbor as yourself. it’s a smile, a hug or a game of baseball. it’s more than i can even begin to attempt to wrap my mind around. it’s about stepping up and stepping out…into the unknown and making change. it’s about making others feel significant. it is living out love.
some may wonder how could i do this? how could i quit my job at the fantastic age of 32 (in 4 days) and embark on a trip around the world with only a tent, a backpack and a $1.25 a day food budget away from all that i know and love…to go and serve?
my answer?
how could i not?
a week after that conversation and prayerful consideration, i applied. the following week i was interviewed. two days later, ACCEPTED.
i look back on the year and the lessons that i have learned and are still learning. sometimes i wrestle with God and his plan…because sometimes i just don’t understand how he doesn’t agree with the plans that i’ve made…because they seem so perfectly awesome! and then i am reminded of his goodness, his love that is so much bigger than i can even begin to comprehend and that i just have to trust. for me, this involves letting go of the things i cannot control and even some that i can.
i anticipate a great deal from the world race and i am happy to share that in a future flog…but right now, i’m tired.
peace~
kcb
