I was so blessed to spend an amazing weekend at my family's lake house in the beautiful piney woods. My father recently retired from the Air Force and he and & mother invited their life-group to go camping. I was surrounded by 20+ of my brothers and sisters in Christ all weekend….it was a perfect blend of sun, fellowship, swimming, worshipping, eating(okay too much of that), play, laughter, etc. etc…
The weather was pure bliss. One of my favorite times at the lake house is when the sun goes down and the moon has full reign of the sky. You can see every single star. I was swinging in a hammock with two of my best friends looking at the starts and singing along to the song "set a fire". As the cool wind blew across my face, I began to wonder where I will be on this day one year from now. I know one thing for certain, I wont be here. There are plenty of people who think I am absolutely crazy for doin this World Race thing, why would I leave this glamorous life I lead to walk into the wilderness?? Why would I leave my cozy bed to sleep on the ground for a year? Why would I leave this delicious spread of fajitas and cakes to eat staple foods?
Maybe I am just young and dumb….But you and I both know that God has a sense of humor, HE always knows whats up. The message delivered in church this morning was totally for me.
When God told the Isrealites about the Promised Land, they could not move their focus from their fears. They wanted the milk & honey, but they did not want to have to conquer giants for it. Moses sent in a few of them to check it out and they went running back to the desert in fear. they chose sand and snakes over milk and honey. Caleb, a courageous young man is listening to all his brothers cry out in fear of the unknown and he boldy states "We can certainly conquer it!" (Numbers 13:30). I think the lesson to be learned here is an obvious one, take the leap of faith.
Thousands of years ago people were faced with the same struggles we see today. When life gets a little difficult, we should go with the easy-out rather than persevere. Why jump into something umfamiliar when you are comfortable where you are? Sure it would be simple to stay in the sandbox, but there is Milk&Honey waiting on the other side of that jump. I realized that one of the blogs I was asked to write is to describe why I felt called to the world race. I guess I could go into all of the moments that God has jolted my life and woken me to his presence and plan. But I think the most current and relative answer I can give for this moment is, I want to live like Caleb. I want to be a follower of Christ that will "go against the flow" of what the lost people around me are doing. I have a desire to be so in-tune with my Savior that when HE commands, I obey. No Questions. I long to know what it really means to live by faith. Not just wear a t-shirt that proclaims it and then make my own schedule.
Its moments like last night, (when Im swinging in a hammock next to familiar faces, my tummy is full and my favorite praise song is in the air) that I realize how different my life will be in 4 months from now. I think about how extremely blessed I am that I even have the option to choose my next step. How completely normal it would be for me to apply for the corporate jobs and interview wearing fancy clothes. But then I wake up and go to church and God speaks to my heart loud and clear. Sure, finding a career and settling into a routine would be pretty easy at this point in my life…But theres a land flowing with Milk&Honey that I wanna take a tour of…I'd rather fight the current and share this unfailing love (Numbers14:18) I have been given with the WORLD.
Thanks for tuning in.
KC
