Comfort.
What does comfort mean to you? A plush bed with clean sheets? An actual American toilet? A shower with WARM water that comes from a fancy nozzle ABOVE your head? Having a set schedule for your day or week? Knowing the ingredients that were used to make the food you are about to eat?
You may not immediately think of these things as being comfort to you. I did not. But when they are no longer there you realize that those are the things that are most comfortable to you.
(You don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Am I right?)
Surprisingly, not having these things was so much more than uncomfortable to me. Through the smell of my own odor, the sleepless nights, the sickness, the cold bucket showers, the port-a-potties and the sleeping scenarios, I have never felt more alive. After my ten days at training camp I realized I don’t want to be comfortable. I don’t want to live a life where getting a warm shower is expected. I want to be stretched, challenged and pushed to the point where the only source of comfort I find is in Jesus.
Training camp (10 days in June where my squad and I, along with 4 other squads, spent 10 days learning more about what being a racer on the World Race means.) was a small glimpse of what that is going to look like for me over the next 11 months. I was stretched, challenged and changed in ways that I am struggling to tell others. Physical, spiritual, and mental growth are sometimes just truly ineffable. No matter how many different ways I try to explain those ten days at training camp, it just never comes out the way I experienced it. The saying, “you just had to be there” couldn’t be louder in my head.
I get so wrapped up in the idea that I am not clearing presenting the ten days I had at training camp that I miss the point. Once I took some time to process and think I realized something, it is incredible to have an experience and story that is ineffable. I have a God that cares so much about me that He wanted me to have a journey through this life that no one else will experience the same way. That is beautiful! Even better, I am not the only one! Everyone has their own story, their own journey through this life and it is so, so important to share your own story. Why? Because your story is uniquely written by a God that loves and cares for you so much. Your story will impact people. It will encourage people. Comfort people. And inevitably bring people to Jesus. Sure, you may feel uncomfortable at times but it isn’t in the most comfortable situations that you see vibrant growth. With discomfort there is more opportunity for growth.
I look forward to the discomfort that is going to push me and challenge me to grow. I pray for God’s grace, patience and strength in times that I am feeling weakest. I am excited for all the memories and stories that I will be able to share with others in hopes that just one person would be impacted and that person will see Jesus for who He is.
That being said,
Less comfort, more life.
