Hey guys! Quick little update before I jump into this blog. Life on the field is good! Ministry is so good. God is so good. Thank you so much for those of you who are praying for me or those of you who have thought about me at least once since I left the United States in September. I have been living in Guatemala for almost 10 weeks now, which is CRAZY. The first ? of my race is going by so fast and I am seeing God move in extraordinary ways. Thank you so much to everyone who reads my blogs and continually prays for me, it means the world to me and I am so grateful.
I am really excited to introduce a new project that will be taking over my blog for the next few weeks. For those of you who know me, you know something that I am really passionate about is The Enneagram. If you don’t know what The Enneagram is, I encourage you to look into it. I have found it to be a really useful tool in helping people understand themselves and other people in their lives. It is a personality typing system that categorizes a person into one of nine types identified by numbers 1-9, if you’re familiar with other personality tests this one is similar. Over the past 2-3 years it has been something that I have really studied and something I really love. Thus sparked the idea of a blog series. Combining everything I love; The Enneagram, people, The World Race, Jesus and blogging! In this series I will be going through what it’s like to be each number specifically on The World Race. I have asked a few of my friends here on the race to guest blog their types so it’ll be more personal and they can be really specific. It just so happens that I am a One, so we’re going to start there.
Type One: The Reformer
I am going to start off by giving a brief overview of Type Ones. Type Ones really focus on wrong and right. They believe it is their job to leave the world better than they found it. They can’t help but see imperfection and they believe they always have to point it out. They are well-organized, and orderly. They have very high standards for themselves and if not aware of it, can be very critical and perfectionistic. They are very justice oriented and believe that things should be as fair as they can be (My little brother, for example, will always equally divide up all the chores to make sure everyone has an even amount of responsibility.) Ones have a really strong sense of purpose and know what their mission is. They are always working to improve themselves and have a hard time receiving criticism because chances are they probably already noticed it themselves. All ones want to hear is “well done, my good and faithful servant.” Their greatest desire in life is to be good. Their biggest fear is to be considered evil. Ones seem like they are rationalists that focus on logic and truth, but they also can be passionate for a cause that is worthy of them fighting for. Ones tend to work off of what they believe is right at the time, they don’t make decisions flippantly because if there’s anything a One hates more than injustice, it’s being wrong. Ones core sin is anger. They tend to bottle up their emotions because they know it isn’t right to be angry (I get angry, and then I’m angry at myself for being angry.) They can get frustrated at others for not working as hard as they do. If you’re working on a group project and someone is going over all of your work to make sure it’s right, they’re probably a One. Ones believe that if they are strict with themselves they will eventually become void of imperfection. They are hard workers and if they say they’ll do something, they’ll do it. At very best Ones are wise, discerning, realistic, and noble. They can also be morally heroic. Some examples of Ones in the bible are the Apostle Paul (he writes 13 letters on how to be the perfect christian, and tells everybody what they’re doing wrong. Total One), and in the parable of The Prodigal Son, the son that stayed home was probably a One.
My experience on the world race so far as a One has been an interesting journey. On the surface level I love the routine and how organized and thought out everything is. The best compliment I can give The World Race is that it is a well oiled machine. It really has this missons thing down to a “T.” the fact that they know where hundreds of racers are all over the world is amazing. I love the structure of our day to day, but also the flexibility that is allowed for the Lord to step in. That is something I have really loved learning, that routine can always be compromised for the sake of the Holy Spirit. It has definitely stretched my One. Something I also have learned to enjoy is a thing we call feedback. When you live in community with 50 other people you have to have a system of calling people higher. It is an opportunity to learn a higher standard of living. Now as a One I can give feedback all day, at the beginning of my race I really struggled with receiving feedback. “Why do I need everyone else to tell me what I’m doing wrong when I already beat myself up enough?” Pride alert, am I right? God quickly got rid of that and now it is something I really enjoy. Another characteristic of Ones is that they tend to always believe they are right. “I have to do it my way because it is the best, most effective way, and if anyone is going to do it another way they’re wrong” kind of people. That also was stripped down early on. LIving with so many other people allows you to appreciate different ways people live their lives. A friend of mine were talking and she made this great analogy that The World race takes away all the inflatable floaties you have put on yourself for the swimming pool of life, pushes you in the deep end and makes you trust that God will make you swim. Spoiler, He always helps you swim, but if you fight it you might drown a little at the beginning. For me personally I had a lot of floaties. Comfort, my own beliefs, things I thought were true, defense mechanisms, etc. God has done a number on everything I thought I knew about myself and my faith (and praise God for that!) Everyday we have the opportunity to choose ourselves or to choose what God has for us, and if I don’t take anything else but this away from my race I think I’ll be in a good place and that is that God’s way is ALWAYS better than my way, no matter how “right” I believe my way is.
To the Ones who are going on / considering The World Race,
Here’s a list of some practical things that will make life on the field less terrifying (I made it a list because I know we love lists) :
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Choose into what God has for you. Don’t be stubborn. It’ll always be good.
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Living out of a backpack will be disorganized. Take a deep breath, it is not the end of the world. Fabric collapsible storage containers are your best friend. Trust me.
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Make a list of some realistic goals you can accomplish per week, per month etc. (reading x amount of chapters in your bible, chores to complete, blogs to write etc.)
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Don’t get too caught up in the next thing. Really press into being where your feet are. Everything will work out I promise.
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Give grace to those around you. No one can live up to your standards, not even you. It’s okay to let the floor go unswept, and the beds to go unmade. God is still good, and Jesus is still on the throne.
Overall, the field has been a great place for growth for me. While there is a lot of routine there’s also a lot of “go with the flow.” Releasing control has been a huge theme the first couple weeks and I’m thankful I’m learning all this now. God’s grace is sufficient and such a sweet thing to step into. God is so good and so faithful. As I have stated in my previous blogs I am really working on stepping into boldness and finding things to be passionate about, for the good of the Kingdom. I know I have a lot of drive so channeling it into ministry and my team is something God is really revealing to me. The World Race is definitely a good place to be for discovering yourself and your purpose and as a One I feel like I have really found a secure place to step into what God has called me to be.
