Tuesday, February 5th, 2007 (Happy Birthday Mike!)
The race is over. We lost again, but then again we really didn’t try too hard to win. Or should I say, our drivers didn’t really care if we won. Our team’s driver stuck right with Agapetos’s driver, thinking that we’re all friends (which we are). So when we finally hit the destination, a coffee shop in Antigua, both van loads sprinted out of their cars (and we hadn’t paid yet) to cross the street and quickly take our pictures. Well, we were the last pictures takers… but then we found out that the race wasn’t over. The next morning we had to foot race to the top of a hill (really a park that overlooks Antigua), pray for an hour there (timing it with pictures), and run to the center of town to the city park fountain. Well, we took our time monday morning. We leisurely walked up the hill (our team is not going to win a foot race), and started praying, then we did some family first stuff (racing can get a little stressful for teams), and then we made our way to the center of town, by way of a coffee shop. So, altogether it took us about three hours… and we’re not ashamed of spending the extra time up on the hill. It was time well spent.
In fact, we even had a meeting about race rules, race contents (praying is part of the race?), and whether or not the race planners can give false info to throw us off. Our team really didn’t have an opinion on anything, mostly because God is in the race… it’s our choice to put Him there though. It’s our choice to use integrity, to be honest, to be Christ-like. It’s our choice to pray longer if we feel it’s what God is asking us to do. We might even have to help other teams win if that’s what God wants. When I think about the “race” aspect of this trip, it almost symbolizes the distractions we face in life, the things that take our focus off of the Lord. Those things could be angry bosses, crying babies, church ministries (where everyone has to put their 2 cents in), you name it, if our flesh is evident, it’s a distraction. If it’s distracting you from being loved, and thus not being able to love others, you’re missing out on what God really wants from you. You can’t hear His voice amid the distraction.
Tonight, as I sit on the concrete floor, on my bed, writing out my thoughts, I experience something I’ve never felt before. And it’s not a distraction… it’s an earthquake! And I’m completely awestruck by the power of God. If my reaction to an earthquake (of this size… with aftershock and all) had been fear, it would have been a distraction, it would have caused my flesh to come out. People would have seen how much I don’t trust God with my life. But instead, I know God holds my life in His hands, and He wants me to experience all He has for me! Even an earthquake!
