To be honest, one piece of advice we have continually received, regarding the World Race, is that we need to drop all of our expectations. Time and time again we have been told by World Race alumni to go into this thing with no expectations whatsoever.
Maybe that’s good advice or maybe it’s terrible. We don’t know.
I guess if you expect to have a hair dryer, makeup, and a hot shower everyday you’re in Africa you SHOULD drop all of your expectations. Or if you expect to never miss a flight, sleep soundly on your 16-hour bus ride through India, and stay perfectly healthy for the next 11 months, you NEED to drop those expectations.
But what if your expectations are real? What if your expectations are honest? What if the things you are expecting aren’t all that unrealistic?
The truth is: WE ARE EXPECTING A LOT DURING THIS NEXT YEAR.
We’re expecting God to do BIG THINGS!
Throughout history, God has moved in magnificent ways through the lives of individuals who were humble and willing to submit to His plan—we want to be those people! The Bible says, “Many are the plans in the human heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Through this all, we trust God to use us to fulfill His significant, greater purpose for our lives.
We’re expecting to have to work hard at our marriage.
The World Race isn’t the “traditional” route young married couples take at this stage in their life. We realize that on the Race, life is going to be unusual, and marriage is going to look different. The wonderful thing is that through the entire journey, we have one another to lean on, and that is a luxury the majority of those around us will not have. Some days will be more demanding that others, but we are thankful for Adventures in Missions being so supportive of married couples on the Race, and the countless alumni Racers who have encouraged us that doing this while married was an amazing experience for them. We are hopeful, but not naive to the fact that life on the World Race will be a time where we have to consistently fight to put our marriage first, fostering an environment for God’s love to be shown to those around us.
We’re expecting life to be difficult.
This is not going to be easy. When the high of “traveling the world to do ministry” wears off, and the community around us sucks, and one of us (or both) is sick…what then? To be completely honest with you, it may get so hard that we want to come home. THE TRUTH: life will not be easy on the World Race. Sure we will have a blast working with orphans, sharing the Gospel, experiencing new cultures, and summiting those “Spiritual Mountaintops”. But where there are mountains, there are valleys. Where there are highs, there are lows. That’s not the World Race—-That’s just life. And one of our realist expectations is that life is not always going to be easy. This is going to require some perseverance.
We’re expecting to see things that are hard to deal with.
Starving men and women. Teenage girls trapped in the sex trade. Human trafficking. Desperate orphans. Suffering people with no access to basic medical care. These are all things we plan on encountering (and so much more). How do you deal with that? Growing up in a place where everyone has a crazy amount of privilege, what is going to run through our heads when we are living with people who have absolutely nothing? We expect to see many things throughout the next year that aren’t easy to process. And that’s okay, because of our final expectation…
We’re expecting it all to be worth it!
God will do big things in our life this year! Despite the unconventional environment for our marriage. In spite of the reality that life will be hard. Regardless of the face that we will be encountering difficult situations and people who are struggling with hard things—IT’S ALL GOING TO BE WORTH IT!
Zig Ziglar says, “Every choice you make has an end result.” Duh. Of course our choices have results. Everyone has a choice, and every choice has a result.
AND OUR CHOICE IS TO GO!
“Commit yourself to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3That’s what we are expecting. We know that on this journey called life—throughout the next 11 months—the Lord will establish us and make a way for us. All of the ups and downs that are bound to come…they will ALL be worth it.
Thank you so much for reading and subscribing to our blog. If you want more info on our upcoming mission trip, check out this video where we answer lots of common questions about where we’re going, what we’re doing, and what we’re expecting!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xcM2cP1N4Q
Also, if you feel led to partner with us by supporting financially, start by hitting the “DONATE” button up above. Support through prayer is also both needed and appreciated.
We just want to say thank you to each and everyone of you for supporting us in different ways. Stay tuned to the Blog and the YouTube channel for more info about our World Race!
