Five months ago I packed a bag.
Five months ago I worried that I had forgotten something.
Five months ago I watched the world spin out of an airplane.
Five months ago the sense of a great adventure flooded my brain.
Last night I cried myself to sleep.
Nothing prepares you for the World Race other than the Race itself. The truth is you learn as you go and you learn well. Going into the race I mentally prepared myself to be eaten by bugs or snakes or wild people who do that sort of thing. I planned to eat weird things and see the unexpected… but I never thought I would struggle with the thing that left my pillow wet and my face smeared with the after-effects of an ugly cry.
What was it?
Love.
Confused?
Let me explain.
Five months ago when I hugged my family goodbye I was ready for an adventure, ready for tragedy… ready for a really good story to tell…
I had no idea that story entailed saying a goodbye that pierces your heart and a hello that may have the power to do the same in a months time. Every month I walk into a ministry with a touch of bitterness in my heart as I look at the people around me. These people who are not the people I fell in love with last month, and slowly my arms spread wide. I find myself falling head first in love with the momma and pops who get up every morning to cook and care for us…
For their son who crawls into my lap every time I am enjoying an orange…
For the teenage boy who sneaks up behind me to scare the mess out me for the fun of it…
For the sassy girl who studies English every night with you…
For the Canadian missionary who opened her home up to us for Christmas…
Then you leave and it starts all over again…
The World Race means loving people before your heart has healed from all the leaving.
My advice… Don’t go on the race if you don’t want to feel the pain of loving people and leaving… but if you take the risk and you do… you will have the time of your life, the best friends you could ask for, and good stories to tell!
Through the eyes of a storyteller…
