(Photo Credit: Katie Kurschner)
Is it really already that time? Its hard to believe that nine months have come and gone, and there are only two that remain. As racers we are starting to prepare for the re-entry process, that final travel day, the home stretch. Faced with the age-old dreaded question: “What’s next?” Some of us have answers to this question, and some of us have no idea. For the last year we have known what is next—another month of ministry. Now we didn’t always know what that looked like and part of the “knowing” that we brought into each month was the not knowing. Early on we learned to go with the flow, chose in even when our expectations failed us and later we learned to let go of all expectations. But now we are leaving it all behind and going home. Leaving the unexpected, the mystery of what home would look like the next month, what our diet would consist of and what our ministry would be. Everything changed every month and we could count on that. Now we prepare to go home. How do you go from expecting the unexpected for a full year, and bam just like that you’re back home. Back to the comforts of home, schedules, driving, going to the store by yourself! Sure that doesn’t sound too scary, but that’s not all we are facing.
Some are faced with necessary hard conversations. Some face not knowing where they will live. Some have been offered multiple opportunities but have to narrow it down to just one. But we are all faced with the unknown, a different kind of unknown that we have been used to the last year. We have changed, whether we want to admit it or not, and now we are about to go home to something that should be familiar. What if home doesn’t recognize me? What if I have changed so much that I don’t fit anymore? What will happen when I leave this community and go home where I have no community? The truth is: it doesn’t matter what we have awaiting us when we get home, we have preparing to do.
I asked some people on my team “How are you preparing for going home?” and these were some of their responses:
-“I’m leaving a month after being home, so I’m trying to make a list of people that I need to be sure and see before I leave.”
-“I need to talk to some people about some hard things, so I’m preparing by asking God to prepare their hearts and mine for these conversations.”
-“I’m trying to live in the moment, be focused on what the Lord has for me now. As far as going home, many people know what they are going to be doing, but I have no idea! So I’m using this time to surrender the unknown and start dreaming big.”
-“When I was home I took really good care of my body taking vitamins and eating right, so I want to start getting my body used to that again. I’m looking for a good daily vitamin to take the next couple months and trying to eat healthier.”
Whatever the answer is one thing is true about them all—each person is preparing more in these last two months than they had been in the first two months. Why? Because the end of the race is close, this journey is coming to an end and we know a new chapter is beginning.
While trying to wrap my head around the fact we are going home so soon, I listened to a podcast. The pastor talked about how we don’t belong here but our home is in heaven. He talked about how that should be our mindset—daily waking up and reminding ourselves that we don’t belong here but our home is in heaven.
We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ~Philippians 3:20
So as I have said, as racers we are preparing for going home because we know this time is coming to an end. But then I had to ask myself, “How would I be preparing if I knew that in two months I was going to my heavenly home?” The truth is we don’t know how much time we will have and Jesus could come back today or twenty years from today.
You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.~James 4:14
I then asked my team another question: “If you knew that Jesus was returning in two months, what would you do differently? How would you prepare?” This is what they said:
-“I would treat every person that came into my path as an opportunity to share Christ. I would no longer give into the excuse that I’m just too tired or I just didn’t feel like the Lord was leading me to say anything. I would want to tell everyone I came into contact with about Jesus and show them His love. I would also take ministry a little more seriously. If I knew I would be in heaven in two short months, I would try and bring as many as I could with me.”
-“I don’t know that I would do anything differently. I try and live every day as if Jesus was coming back tomorrow, so I would keep doing what I have been doing and tell people about Jesus every opportunity I was given.”
-“I would be so excited! I would go around and tell every person I could about Jesus!”
These are great answers but the question I asked myself is, “Why am I not doing this now?” The bible says that no one knows the day or the hour of His return, but we know it is coming.
“For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Matthew 24:44
Knowing that Jesus is coming soon is not surprise to us in fact its the only thing that we can truly be sure about. My schedule says that I’m going home to America in two months, but to quote James again, doesn’t the bible say:
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15
If we know this to be true, shouldn’t we be living each day as if it where our last day, keeping our eyes set on heaven? We spend so much time preparing for what our schedule says our future holds, but are we preparing for what the bible says our future holds? Each day is a gift from God; it’s another day we have been given to live life to the fullest. I want to approach each day as if it was given to me for a reason. I want to prepare for going home by stocking up on treasure while I still have the chance. Today is the only day we have to share the gospel, because when we get to heaven, everyone will know Jesus so there will be no need.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21
So now I have the same question for you: If you knew Jesus was coming back in two months, what would you do differently with your day today? How would you prepare? Then ask yourself: Is this something I’m already doing, if not, why not? What could I be doing differently?
Well with the talk of coming home in just two months, some of you might be wondering what I will be doing. I’m very excited to announce that God is calling me back to finish my last semester at Calvary Chapel Bible College in York, England. This is something that I have been praying about since the beginning of the race. I finally feel like it’s time to start telling people and ask for prayer as I prepare to leave home once again. I will be leaving home mid January, so I will only be home for about a month and a half. If you would like to support this next journey, you can do so through Paypal ([email protected]) or at https://www.gofundme.com/krystlegarwood
