The World Race is an interesting experience to say the least. Everyday, if not every moment, is a paradox. For instance, we came on this trip to serve and love the least of these and yet it seems that we work on ourselves a lot of the time. Seriously, we spend so much time reflecting and discussing ourselves it feels selfish. Another paradox that the Race embraces is “hurry up and wait”. We were informed at launch that we will very often rush someplace just to wait. In a lot of cultures when they say “be here at 8” they really mean they might decide to show up around 8:30 or 10 or 1 or 4.
Our very first bus ride from Johannesburg, South Africa to Harare, Zimbabwe was supposed to leave at 3 in the afternoon but didn’t arrive until 9 p.m so we waited. Our housing this month is with many additional people besides my team of six and there may only be two pots so we spend a lot of time waiting to use the pots to fix dinner. Every morning dressed and ready to go and my team is still running around getting ready, so I wait. I now understand why leaders have said moving racers is like herding cats.
We also have to wait for transportation around Harare, Zim. Just because we get inside a combi doesn’t mean it will leave. It waits until it is completely filled with at least 16 people. Waiting for internet has also proved to be a daily struggle. Not being able to connect with friends or entertainment on my phone, iPod touch, or Macbook forces me to be present in my waiting. No Angry Birds, no Pandora Radio Station, no texting, no Tweeting, no status updating, and no Instagramming (yea I just made up a verb).
But waiting on the Lord seems to be the most difficult for me. When the sick or diseased or broken are brought to us all we can do is call upon the name of the Lord and wait for him to do his thing. I can pray for more of him but I must wait patiently for his timing and understanding. I am waiting to experience God in a more personal way and there’s nothing I can do to speed up the process.
All of this waiting is a constant reminder that it is not about me and my plans really don’t matter. So far I haven’t been shocked at what I’ve encountered and honestly it hasn’t been as difficult as my move to Nashville was. What has been hard has been the waiting.
So I'm calling on all you prayer warriors back home to begin praying that I fully embrace and tust in God's timing rather than my own. I've been pretty open but I want to make sure that I press into what he is teaching me.
P.S. Sorry there are no pictures on here but the internet is so slow I can't upload any on my blog! You can check out the album on my facebook page here.