Oxymoron of the year. Or should I say eleven months? Haha, see what I did there?
The World Race is not normal life, it’s an adventure. It’s eleven months of serving in eleven different countries all for God’s glory. This way of living is completely different from normal life as I’ve known it. And that’s what makes it enticing, exciting, yet dreadful at the same time.
As we are in month nine, I realize that many times I fail to share with friends and family what life on the Race looks like. Race life has become routine, so instead of sharing about the day-to-day encounters I focus more on ministry, what Jesus is teaching me, or how God is moving in my life.
So I ‘m writing this blog to give you a glimpse into a few things that have slowly become a norm on this 11 month journey.
Living out of a Backpack
So I’ve lived out of a backpack the past nine months of my life. Ok, granted my pack is 65 liters, and at times weighs just under fifty pounds. But still, I carry all of my belongings (bed included) on my back, so I’m calling it a back pack dang it!
This past week I realized it has become something normal. I go to my pack as if it is a dresser drawer, bathroom counter, and medicine cabinet. Is it convenient? No. Do I miss my closet full of clothes? Absolutely. But would I change this circumstance at the moment? No way. The Lord has called me to this.
Choosing what to wear is not nearly as difficult as home because there is such a small selection to choose from. What I use to deem as unwearable suddenly isn’t so bad. It is easier to ignore the tiny holes or fuzz balls on my clothes because I wear them out of necessity. My standard of dirty clothing has greatly lowered on the race. It is a daily use of deodorant spray, Febreeze, even body spray to mask the smell of clothing which I should have washed a few days ago.
But in all of this, God is greatly teaching us the difference between our needs and wants. As we travel from country to country we see the staggering poverty in every culture. It does not vary. We see people sleeping on the streets and malnourished children begging for money as they are covered in dirt and worn clothing. Fifty pounds of gear isn’t tragic nor glamorous, but it definitely brings perspective as we are serving those who understand what it is to live without.
Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2: 15-17
Community living
Ah, community living. The look of this has varied throughout the Race. Most months, I’ve lived with a team of six or seven, plus our ministry contact and their family. Three different months my team lived at children’s homes surrounded by kids every day and night. Our squad has also had the blessing (or curse, however you look at it :P) of living together for three months throughout the Race.
Let me tell ya from firsthand experience, living with forty-two other people can be incredibly overwhelming. Are we all followers of Jesus with the common goal to love each other well? Yes. Is it perfect? No. Does it get messy? Of course.
Living in community is one of the most challenging, vulnerable, and raw experiences of my life. We are learning what it looks like to prefer others over ourselves, especially when we don’t want to.
I’m seeing what it looks like to give and receive grace constantly. I’m learning to speak my mind, yet remain in humility. To live with a servant heart and not expect things back. To be ok with dirty sponges surrounding the sink, constant hair in the shower drain, and that it is possible to share two showers and two toilets with thirty-four others girls. It is crazy and frustrating, but so rewarding.
The greatest lesson God has taught us in this is that we CHOOSE to love. We simply cannot avoid community, it is a World Race norm. Life at home we are able to avoid people we may not get along with because we are able to walk away from our tiffs and disagreements. But on the Race, our squad is learning how to choose to love one another through the hard times. It is even possible to live with someone through the ugly, to pray for each other in the hurt, and to bless one another in the mess.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10: 24-25
Travel Days
Ok so, travel days aren’t every day. But it is definitely noteworthy to talk about.
Travel days are at the start and end of every month as we travel to and from each country. They are exhausting– some have been over thirty hours. But usually, they average at least a full day of travel. I’m talking twenty-four hours of planes, trains, buses, and walking– in Vietnam, in the rain, in a dark alley, to find your hostel kind of travel days. These days can include border crossings, filling out visas, waiting to pass through customs, and crossing your fingers in hope that your luggage got on that plane.
It could be all of the above in a one day.
We lug around our obnoxious gear and jam-pack every bus or train we load into. Sometimes our packs fill the aisle of the bus and we have to walk on top of them. These days are sweaty, smelly, and just seem to drag on.
The blessing from this mess? We are now able to fall asleep anywhere– the floors of airports, train stations, and buses. It is quite a scene.
Right as we get adjusted to a culture it’s time to move on to the next ministry. Every month we gear up and get ready to go through it all again. The cultural changes, the new currency and weather (unless you are in Asia…because it will always be humid and you will always be sweaty). We get ready to learn bits and pieces of a new language. We prepare our hearts for the upcoming ministry and a new community to love.
Amidst the crazy, challenging things of the Race, not everything is adventurous and exciting. Many days are hard, some are boring, and some days strangely feel pointless. Whoa wait, this normal is starting to sound familiar. Isn’t life like that everywhere?
But I was suppose to write about how the Race is not normal. Uh ohs. Then what makes it different?
The core, the center is Jesus.
The crazy adventure isn’t the World Race. It’s Jesus, it is sharing His bold, radical love even through the humdrum of everyday life. It is seeing that normal life is really everywhere; and we have the choice to bring the experience of His undying love to others, no matter where we are.
Kingdom living isn’t a fantasy world. It’s not a magical place where life is suddenly an adventure 24/7 and every moment feels brand-spanking new. Things become routine and the unusual becomes ordinary. It is rather about walking through every moment: the new, the dull, the empty and giving it to God to see how He will use it.
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. Romans 12: 1-4 (The Message)
How will our Father use you today, right where you are?
