I’m ready to go on the Race.
But I wish I wasn’t.
My heart yearns for India.
But I wish it didn’t.
If you read my last blog it was (hopefully) pretty clear that Training Camp was amazing. At Training Camp my squad and I learned that it doesn’t matter where you are or what you are doing, but who you are with. And oh how ready I am to get back to those people. My second family- my brothers and sisters in Christ.
My heart yearns for India.
But I wish it didn’t- it shouldn’t. Not yet.
The entire W squad has a WhatsApp together and lately we have been sharing feelings of dissatisfaction with where we are. I won’t speak for all of them, but I speak for myself when I say returning home after Training Camp is hard. A community of believers that decided to abandon everything for their faith is not the same as the family and friends you grew up with. It just isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, both of these communities are GREAT and Godly- but they are different. At home my community doesn’t randomly burst into worship. At home we don’t laugh at taking bucket showers or at our terrible body odor. At home we don’t struggle through coffee withdrawals or miss our dogs. At home we do not always abandon the patterns of this world to pursue the Father.
And so, my heart yearns for India.
But it shouldn’t.
This morning I spent 2 hours on a beach in West Seattle. Here I spent my time listening to a podcast and in the Word (the Bible). And God showed me that His beauty is wherever I am. Not only through His creation, but in me- not just with me. At Training Camp we talked a whole lot about the Holy Spirit. How we should be giving the Spirit habitation rights, not visitation rights, but that’s a blog for another time.
As I sat on a bench drinking my coffee, I could taste the salt of the Sound on my lips. And I came across a familiar verse:
“‘You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.’”
Basically, Jesus tells us, “Stay salty.”
Yes, I just said “salty.” Stay with me.
No matter where we are in the world we are meant to disciple others and live in community. At Training Camp a fire was lit inside of me. To be yearning for India and the Race right now would be like putting a basket over my fire… pointless.
Because the Lord has placed me here and now, in Seattle, for 37 more days. That’s 37 days to spend with my family and friends. 37 days to serve Him here because Seattle needs Jesus just as much as India does. Or Nepal. Or Thailand, or Cambodia, or Vietnam, or Rwanda, or Ethiopia, or Bolivia, or Peru, or Ecuador, or Colombia.
God is asking me to pour into my community at home- to be present with the family and friends that I don’t have much time left with. He is commanding me to “stay salty.”
My heart yearns for India. But I am praying against it.
Because the Lord is with me and my community in Seattle just as much as He was in Georgia or will be on the Race.
Stay Salty, Friends.
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