I have been home now from the World Race for almost 3
months. Coming off of the field isn’t
the easiest thing. At first I thought I
was fine, that I didn’t have much adjusting to do, but I have realized that it
isn’t the first few weeks that are difficult, at least for me. For me, the first month was fun- I saw lots
of friends and family, celebrated Christmas and New Years. It was after that that I began to shut
down. Everyone went back to their
routines, leaving me to shuffle through my life on my own. No longer was I living with 27 people, no
longer was I packing up every week or two.
No longer was in a new and exciting place, and I wasn’t being fulfilled
with reaching out and helping others, and I stopped growing like I was used to.
I live in a small town with my parents, most of my friends live in other cities. There is no one at my church my age, and I
was having a very difficult time being motivated to do anything. I got a small babysitting job for a few hours
each day, but the majority of my time I sat on the couch doing nothing. I was BORED! I didn’t have anything to do, I didn’t have anyone to talk to, and I
didn’t know what to do with myself anymore. I have never felt so purposeless, I almost felt as if I were dying. This is such a change to how I felt on the
race, the opposite of how I thought I should be doing, and I just kept slipping
farther down. It’s a slippery slope once
you lose track.
I desperately needed some time with my good friends from
university and of course my World Race family. I took a trip at the end of January and beginning of February to see
just these people. I spent a few days in Windsor reconnecting with
my university friends, and speaking at the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
there before heading to Michigan to see Tammy and then on to Port Huron to see
all of the wonderful people who have moved there to be on World Race
Staff. I was able to spend a few hours
of time with Michael and Kathy Hindes, the directors of the World Race, and the
coaches from my squad last year. They
were able to talk some sense into me, help me to make a plan, encourage me and
pray for me. They reminded me of who I
had become, and helped me to see how I could live that out at home.
Since I have been back from my southern extravaganza (yes,
to me, Michigan is south) I have really begun to feel more alive again. It was just the encouragement I needed. I have joined a college and career small
group at another church nearby, and made a new friend there. I have 2 job interviews this week, and I am looking
forward to some near future plans with AIM (I’ll let you know more, when I know
more). Things are looking up, and I am
more excited about getting out of bed each day. Since I have been home God has been teaching me things again. It never ceases to amaze me how God will
teach you, if you are listening.
God also has a sense of humour. After my month of suffocating in my own house
God thought He would teach me about life. He thought that it would be the perfect time to give me a good Christian
worldview, and teach me how to live my life passionately- no matter where I am.
To many, this would me reaching beyond
their comfort zones, to expanding their worldview to include the people of the
world. For me, this means living out my
Christian worldview IN my comfort zone, to the people of my town, and the
people I have grown up with.
I have been learning about this from 3 different sources,
all at the same time. It was when the
subject kept coming up, and I was drawing connections between them that it
clicked that MAYBE I should be learning something here. MAYBE God was trying to teach me
something. Just maybe. In my small group we are going through the
material The Truth Project by Focus on the Family. It is a 12 week DVD series for believers to
be able to gain a Christian Worldview. So far we have had 2 lessons- what is truth, and philosophy and ethics-
what is right and wrong. We are
challenged to think about WHY we believe what we do, and how to live as though
we really believe it.
I began reading a book the other day, The Gospel According
to Starbucks. I am only a couple of
chapters in, but I see where the main premise is going to take me throughout
the chapters. It is demonstrating why
holding to the Christian Worldview- living the life, not just stopping by
church once a week, is vital to the continuation of Christianity. How is it that Starbucks does so well, yet
churches struggle to keep people coming? Because Starbucks is a lifestyle, while Christians have lost the passion
that Jesus came to give us.
The biggest realizations I have had have come through the
beginning of reading the book of John. Right there in John 1:4 it says In Him there is life. God said to me through this that it doesn’t
matter where I am or what I am doing, I should always feel alive because it is
Jesus that brings me life. The life can’t
be sucked out of me, as I had felt like, but I can only choose to stop tapping
into the Life Source.
In John 4:14 it says the water I give will become a spring
of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life. Jesus wants to fill us with the Holy
Spirit. He says in John 10:10 that He
came to bring life in its fullness. The
Greek word here is zoe, passionate life. Jesus came to give us Grande Passion! He is the LIFE. When He is in
you, there is no dying. There is no
boredom, no purposelessness.
God is the God of LIFE! Everyday we can wake up and know that we are living. Anywhere you are- whether working 9-5,
whether in a town of 1200, whether you are in the literal middle of nowhere in
Bolivia, Mozambique, or Cambodia- you can be living a passionate, sold out life
bringing kingdom to those around you. I
encourage you to begin your life of Grande Passion today! Get connected to the Life Source and see
where He may lead you.
