Continuing on.
It ever so slowly hits me every day that I have a mere 4 weeks left until life as I have known it since January 4th ends…kind of…
Everyone here has to admit that in many ways we are all exhausted. We have been traveling since the beginning of the year, pouring ourselves out to people all over the world, and it takes it’s toll on your physical body. Matt, Gretchen, and I were walking down the street the other night and we walked through some disgusting mess of trash on the streets (well, we walked around it anyway), and it all hit me. We MUST be walking proof that there is a God taking care of us. We’ve set our feet in so many places, walked through piles of disgusting things, ate food that we should never have ate, went with less sleep than we ever should have, yet there we were…walking down the streets of Cambodia feeling completely healthy! We are all exhausted though, you can tell that we are running on fumes. But it’s in times like this that we must realize where all of our strength comes from, and that it can’t come from our own powers.
Our Squad at Angkor Wat
I know that God has placed us in various places to test us, to strip us down, to build us back up, to sharpen us, to mold us, to heal us, to do this or that to us, so here we are facing our last short leg of our journey. An ever so short stay in Cambodia and a week of having our coaches back to debrief the year, get us ready for what’s next, and celebrate our victories together, and we are off to the USA once again! It will take a little over 30 hours of flights and layovers until I land in Detroit in the overnight hours Friday night before Thanksgiving. While I’d like to say that once I land in Detroit I’d like to have a normal life, it just wouldn’t make sense. I’ve come this far to not change that much and go right back to the exact life I had before? I can’t imagine that. Though some sense of normality may be needed (still having student loans to pay off, I do need an income I guess…unless you want to pay them off for me!). But everything is different now. I have a totally different perspective on myself, my friends, my family, the country, the world, God, etc etc etc. Too many people have poured life into me this year for me to bottle it all up and keep it to myself. I’ve grown too much as a person to simply pull the plug and stop!
So here I am, in Cambodia, wondering where my balance will be. Wondering how I will ever return to the USA and fit in. Wondering what people “back home” think of me now. Wondering what my circle of friends in North Carolina will look like now. Wondering how good the turkey will taste on Thanksgiving. Wondering which of my favorite deserts my mom will have waiting for me when I get home. Wondering how I will bring the Kingdom to the future places my feet land. Wondering how it will be not being surrounded by the 24 people I’ve been sharing this adventure with. So many things to consume my mind, yet I know and realize that I can’t let that take my eyes off of Cambodia, and the fact that I’m right here, right now.
Team Sanity at Angkor Wat
So there it is. I’m wondering what’s next. I have absolutely loved this year so far, and wouldn’t trade it in for anything at all. I know that there needs to be some form of continuance in my life, yet also know that reality sets in. Please join me in praying for what’s next. I know that I’d love to continue my involvement in The World Race in some way, I know that I would love to continue my involvement with SE Asia, I know that I need to be a normal person too and have a job and pay the bills…yet bring IT with me everywhere. Please join me in praying for what’s next…and yet continuing to pray for what’s in front of me right now…CAMBODIA!
My picture site is fully up to date, including some pictures of Cambodia!
www.markstratmann.com
