Happy National Face Your Fears Day!
(Yes, it is a thing.)
The most common question I get when talking about the World Race is, “aren’t you scared?” I guess it’s a big thing to prepare for, physically and mentally, but I see other people (aka my mom) getting scared for me more than I see myself getting scared. Although there is one aspect of the trip that I am freaked out about: the food.
It sounds dumb, right? But since the day I was born, I have been the pickiest eater I’ve ever met. It’s not just that I don’t want to eat certain foods, it’s that certain foods seriously freak me out. The most exotic thing I’ll eat is trail mix. It’s 4 foods combined into one awesome food so it counts as exotic or something, right? I don’t know. I won’t even eat pepperoni on my pizza because it’s too spicy. I just ate pineapple for the first time in my life yesterday and it was a huge step in expanding my food palate. I wish I could say I was exaggerating even slightly about the whole picky eating thing but it’s no joke.
Needless to say, the idea of Thai food never crossed my mind before realizing that I’m going to have to eat it when I actually go to Thailand. Now, I know I will have to eat Central American food and African food as well, but for some reason I am so scared about having to eat Thai food. So I called up my good friend Tasha who lives in a cute city with a ton of things to do, including eat at an authentic Thai restaurant. I decided it was well overdue for me to do something outside of my comfort zone. You know the feeling you get when you’re about to get a shot at the doctor’s office or a filling at the dentist’s office? That feeling is comparable to the feeling I get when I have to eat something I have never eaten before. It’s not a desirable feeling, it’s uneasy and you just want to get it over with.
Tasha ordered three different things for us to try: some sandwich with Thai stuff on it, some noodley-chicken-spicy broth thing, and some tofu tater tot looking things with some sweet chili sauce to dip them in. All I ordered was a garbage can on the side and some water. Before the food came out, I was sitting at the table contemplating my life choices silently in my head and asking God to give me strength to eat this food.
As you can see, Tasha was slightly more excited to eat it than I was.
I took a bite of the sandwich and the sauce on it freaked me out a little bit, but it wasn’t half bad. Then I tried the tofu things and they were actually super delicious. The noodle stuff was really good at first but after awhile my mouth was on fire and I pushed it away. Overall, it was a less-than-traumatizing experience and I believe a good first step in the right direction.
The point of all of this isn’t to bore you with my picky eating tendencies, but it’s just to talk about how the little parts of the race are pretty intimidating. The race as a whole is a scary concept to grasp; it’s completely leaving your comfort zone for 9 months and just relying on your trust in God. But here’s the thing… God is not calling us to be comfortable. One of my favorite quotes from Francis Chan’s Crazy Love is, “God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.”
Fear comes in all sizes. My fear for the race is pretty small, my fear for the food on the race is slightly bigger, and my mom’s fear for me going on the race is huge. But strength from God comes in a One Size Fits All type of deal. He gives you enough strength to do all things, slightly scary or extremely scary. Just give Him your trust and He will give you the strength in return. So go out and face your fears! Even if it’s something small like eating Thai food or sending your only child on a mission trip across the world for 9 months. God’s got you.
