11 Things I’m Currently Learning….

What Am I learning on the World Race? What is Jesus Teaching me right now? (Adapted from an email to my best friend)

 

1. He’s teaching me about His Sovereignty, that despite the fact that I don’t know what I am going to do after the World Race, and the fact that I will be flat broke by then, He has a plan, and I can trust that He will take care of me.

 

2. He has a good plan for me, and is teaching me to hand over my fears: my fear of being alone for the rest of my life, the fear of the fact that I have to make money for myself at some point in the near future, the fear that I won’t sleep on the street ever, the fear that the person I was when I left for the race isn’t the person that I going to be coming home, the fear of leaving the intense community that I am now, and the fear that I will simply fall flat on my face. I fear that people won’t love me for who I am and instead I have to make myself someone I am not in order for people to love me. The truth is, I am a broken, misfit toy who just wants to be loved. I want to know the love of people around me, and I have struggled with acceptance for most of my life.

 

3. He’s teaching me that He intentionally puts people in your path and lets your lives meet because you will need them to be the person He wants you to become. I have the best teammates, squad mates, squad leaders, squad coach, squad mentors, friends, family, supporters, and prayer team. No person you meet is unintentional.

 

4. He’s teaching me that I have to learn to communicate better. My communication most of my life has been forced instead of chosen. He’s teaching me that I have to learn about His Heart by talking to Him about it instead of thinking that somehow He will magically impart it on me (but I don’t put that past Him either!). I have to write emails when I want people to know how I am feeling. I have to reply to emails or talk to my team/squad/squad leaders/squad mentor/squad coaches when I need something.

 

5. He’s teaching me that I need to express what I think in a group setting. Being on a team with 7 people who are incredibly diverse has been an incredible challenge for me over the last few months. I have been so much quieter in the last four months than I have in a long time because I struggle to express my opinions in a big group. 1 on 1 I am fine, but add 6 people and I struggle to express my opinions.

 

6. He’s teaching me that I really like chicken and fries. I miss American food. Preferably a chicken sandwich, BBQ, and ranch dressing.

 

7. He is teaching me that I really am going to finish 11 months on the race. I think I had the out in my mind for a while that maybe my funding wouldn’t come in, or that the race wouldn’t like me enough and send me home before December. Some days this makes me want to laugh; other days it makes me want to cry. Month 4 and I am realizing that 11 months is a lot longer than I first anticipated.

 

8. He’s teaching me that I like space, and took when He took that away, He made me uncomfortable. But it was when I was uncomfortable that He could get my attention in a way that He hasn’t before.

 

9. He is teaching me that I identified myself as a paramedic/EMT for a long time, and a lot more often than I thought I did. I used it as the very thing I used to identify myself instead of Him. I was a Christ follower first, but I found a lot more identity in the fact that I have letters behind my name than I did because I was a Christ follower. I loved what I did when I left the states, but it doesn’t define the person that I am. I still want to be a paramedic (and am), but I am working through the challenge that it doesn’t define me.

10.  He is teaching me that He puts people in your path because you need                them, not always because you want them, or even that you think you need              them. Your closest friends will make you mad, and they will ask you to do                things that seem impossible but are just the things that will make you better            in the end. (Want to know a fun part about community? When you live within          20 feet of your 6 close friends all the time, you can’t ignore them, or not talk            to them.)

11.   And He is teaching me that He isn’t done with me yet, and even after             this year is over, He still wont be done with me. His plan is incredible, and I             am just beginning to tap on an iceberg that is humbling and exciting at the             same time.

 

Incredibly blessed to live my life.

 

Until He Comes,

Kristy