Dear Future World Racer,
This is a letter to you during the tough months. The World Race is full of amazing stories and crazy adventures, but that doesn’t come without the rough patches.
While you’re out experiencing the world, life at home is still moving forward. Best friends will get married, children will be born, sickness will happen, and milestones will be missed. You know this entering the race, but it’s different when it actually becomes a reality and you are 1,000s of miles away.
Stomach problems. You can almost count on that happening. The race is tough on your GI system. You’re throwing 100’s of different bacteria at your GI track telling it to suck it up buttercup, but let’s face it, that’s not always the reality. Sometimes you can control what you eat, and sometimes you’ll be in the middle of a village with no way to get anything else aside from what’s prepared for you. The western toilet will be your dream, but the squatty is your reality.
And in community, crap may hit the fan. Words may be said that sting, or wrongful actions wish you longing for your community at home or for team changes. You’ll be asked to do things outside of your comfort zone… but you already know that. Maybe that’s a reason you’ve signed up for the race, that’s definitely one thing that brought me on the race. But it’s a challenge when you’ve lived a life of comfort, and then you’re suddenly asked to do things that are totally out of your control and the only place you can turn is to your teammates for help, or for God to just totally do something crazy because you have no plan B.
PLEASE HEAR ME WHEN I TELL YOU THIS, THIS BLOG IS BY NO MEANS MEANT TO SCARE YOU FROM GOING ON THE RACE. The race is full of so many amazing things, but at times my pre-race thoughts reminded me of a romantic comedy or Disney romance. Is it really always that easy to get the guy/girl, is marriage really that simple? I’m not married, but through chats with married couples those are not the realities.
The things that are most worth it are worth FIGHTING for. It’s going to require you to fight while you’re on the race. Fighting to stay present when everything is going on back home or when you’ve visited the squatty for the umpteenth time in the middle of the night. Fighting for the community that may have hurt you because it’s so unbelievably worth it. There’s a reason Jesus did life with others when He was on the earth, even one that would ultimately betray Him. And most importantly fighting for joy! True joy isn’t something that can be manufactured, it comes from deep within your soul.
So hash out the hard questions with God. He brought you on this race for a reason. Although He may not give you the answers right away, believe that He has a plan for you in all of this. It may have been your plan B or even Z, but it is His plan A. He created you, and knows you better than you know yourself. And invite the community that God has given you in during these hard times, because they love and care for you deeply. And for all you know the best remedy could be a dance party with them in the heat of India minus any fans since the power went out 🙂
Always,
A month 7 racer
