To all the people I left behind,
This blog is for you.
To all the people who said goodbye,
This blog is for you.
If you didn’t know it already, I’m back. I’m home. Just a few days ago my flight landed in Miami and the World Race officially came to an end.
And in many ways, my life as I knew it came to an end.
We’ve reached the other side of 11 months, and it’s been one heck of a year. And now, the moment is going to come when I get to see you again.
Are you ready for that moment?
I know many of you have been waiting for that moment for 11 months – or longer – so, of course, you’re ready. Ready in the sense that you are eager for the occasion of reuniting. But are you ready, in the sense of being prepared?
I spent months getting ready to leave the country for 11 months. Getting prepared in the physical sense, the emotional sense and the spiritual sense.
And then, about two months ago, I started getting ready to come back.
I have been preparing for this moment for weeks. I have been praying and processing and thinking and remembering, getting ready for the moment when this whole thing would be over, and I would somehow have to transition back into life at home, figure out the next step, and share my story with you all. I got ready for this season to end and a new one to begin.
So, my question is: are you ready?
Honestly, most people don’t care about what I just did. They really don’t. For them, this was just another trip. Most people who ask are just asking to be polite.
But you’re not most people. You’re reading this blog, aren’t you?
So as you read this, I want to know: are you ready for me to be back?
Have you taken time to look back on the past year and examine what you have learned, how you have grown, what God has done?
Have you thought about the kinds of things you want to know about my year, about my story?
I don’t know what you even want to know about this year.
Maybe you don’t want to know anything. Maybe you want to know it all.
But I can only tell you if you ask me.
So are you ready to ask?
And if you don’t know what to ask, here’s one place to start:
What should I be asking you about this year?
Ask me how I saw God move.
Ask me what my favorite country was (Cambodia).
Ask me why.
Ask me how my expectations were blown.
Ask me about moments I wanted to quit.
Ask me why I didn’t.
Ask me what I miss most about the World Race.
Ask me what I missed most about home.
Ask me about my teammates.
Ask me about a funny story, and laugh even when you don’t find it as funny as I do.
You can ask me what’s next, but I’ll probably say that I don’t know. So you might want to have a backup question. Because for most people, this was just 2016. But for me, it was a life-changing, expectation-defying, mind-blowing, unbelievably beautiful year.
And I hope yours was just as life-changing, expectation-defying, mind-blowing, unbelievably beautiful. You don’t need to go to 11 countries to experience that.
