I am astounded and thankful. Not an “oh, God is awesome” thankful, but an “on my face in awe of how much the Lord daily loves me” thankful. I am in Romania, and I am worshipping the same God who was in the States, who was in Central America, and who will be in the many nations to come. I am sitting here thinking about how beautiful my life is now, but how similar it also is to my life in the States. I am enchanted by the mountains of Romania, just like I am enchanted by the mountains in Tucson. I am blessed to have a forest to run through here if I choose to, and blessed to have a desert to run through in Tucson, both uniquely beautiful in their own ways. I get to listen to the hearts and joys and struggles of my friends and community here and love them and call them into greatness just like my friends and community that I have in Tucson. I get to hear the struggles of abused kids in Central America, of gypsy kids in Romania. I get to hear how they’ve been wronged and love them with a love and grace that only come from the Lord. I get to fight for them and pursue them when no one else will, much like the girls I worked with at my job in Tucson.
The truth is that I am no more or less thankful for life in Arizona than I am for this life around the world. I am not meaning to sound ungrateful, so hear me out. One is a continuation of the other. Each is a precious gift from the Lord, and they both leave me on my face thankful. Joy comes from finding the Lord in the everyday details of life. The 11 months before the race are a parallel to the 11 months I am living now, and somehow the Lord is magically and beautifully merging them together.
We talked about the concept of “home” when we met as a squad for a few days before moving continents. I am really starting to see how it is not at all circumstantial. Three years ago when I traveled to Africa, I thought it was crazy how I felt at home there. I was only there for a short time, and felt like I could live there forever. Now I’ve gone to 3 other countries and am in my 4th, and feel the same about them all. Home is not circumstantial to who is around you, where you are, and if your every comfort and desire is being met. Home is wherever you are as long as you recognize Christ is with you. You learn to adapt to the people and culture around you, not so that you can look like them, but so that they can see Christ in you in a way that is relatable.
I have walked away from my what I considered to be my home. I have made some hard decisions and missed out on life continuing with the people I have grown to love in order to love strangers around the world. It was time to walk out of the familiar and into the unknown in order to see Christ in a way that was outside of myself and the safety net I’d confined myself to. I “laid down my life” for Him, because He first did it for me. I walked into the unfamiliar in order to love the least of these, because I am the least, and He loves me. I am at home in every place that my feet tread, and I am just as thankful to be in one place or the other.
I have heard people say to me recently things like, “I feel bad that you are doing X, Y & Z and all I am doing is (fill in the blank). I feel like I am doing nothing important compared to you.” To that, my response is that I am simply being obedient. I am living my passion that the Lord has given me, and if you are doing the same, we are no different except being in different locations. I am no greater than the person next to me. Another thing I’ve heard is “The World Race is awesome, I wish I could go on an adventure like that.” The truth is this: living life with Christ is an awesome adventure, and the World Race is just a great tool to see Him in new and unique ways. You don’t have to go on the World Race to live an adventurous life with Christ. You just need obedience, and He will daily blow you away.
So these are my thoughts for the day: That every day, no matter where you are, is a gift. Each day the Lord has plans that He sets out for you and each breath is an opportunity to glorify Him and to bless the world around you. That living an adventurous life means walking in obedience to what He’s asking you to do. Be thankful for where you are. Be thankful for what He’s walking you through, and know that no matter where you are, there is a purpose in it all, and it is beautiful.
