A seedling, once able to be trampled over, eventually becomes a towering tree that stands strong and boldly. Trees go through season after season, seeking strength and growth from each one all the same. Some seasons are easy – the tree is able to get many needed nutrients, is able to sprout leaves and new blooms and experiences much growth. Other seasons can be difficult – the much needed nutrients are not as easily available, and the climate around it becomes somewhat unsuitable for effective growth. But the struggles and triumphs of the tree determine its eventual strength. While it was once a small sapling, the seasons helped shape it into something that can withstand greater things. My life’s journey strongly resembles that of a tree, yearning to grow stronger with each and every day.
Coming to a close is an incredible season of my life. The World Race has come to its end. The Race has provided so many challenges, so many things to overcome. It has been a season of discipline, discipleship, study, service and spiritual growth. It has been a season of my life unlike any other, and will play a significant role in my growth going forward.
Where was I before the Race? To say I was lost would be an exaggeration – I at least had some direction. But that direction, I do not believe, came from the Lord. To put that in more perspective, I did not really know who the Lord was. Every Sunday I went to church; there I participated in Youth Group, helped during services, and built a strong community around me. I felt as though that was enough. But a relationship with the Lord is so much more than that.
Sundays have always been “NFL Sunday, with a side of church.” Church was an obligation, a habit formed based on the way I was raised. But it never went further than that. I never pursued God like I have the past 9 months. Before the Race, I viewed God as an entity that was served through worship and prayer. But I never understood that having a relationship with God meant taking time alone to be with Him, taking time to read the Bible, listening to his words and meditating on the direction He was setting before me. God is a friend. A relationship with God is so similar to any other deep relationship I may have with others. It takes time and effort. That’s what God wanted from me, and that’s what I never gave. The past 9 months helped me form and cement the relationship that I now have with God, that of which will continue to grow for years and years to come. I learned to depend on Him in the good times and the bad ones. I learned to find my strength in Him. I learned to look to Him for guidance and to revolve my life around Him. He gifted me with this life, and the least I can do is glorify Him with it!
I can remember in the Summer of 2016, I tried to build a relationship with God. I would pray before I went to bed, and maybe a few other times throughout the day. It was getting there. But, soon after, I messed up. I did something dumb, and I believed it reset the relationship that I had so carefully tried to build. Filled with shame, I sort of gave up. It was worth a shot, but it did not seem to be worth it. What I did not realize at the time was the grace that God provides to those who seek Him. He loves us as a parent loves their children. Look at the story of the Prodigal Son! Jesus compares God to that father, exemplifying that God will always welcome us back with open arms celebrating our return! Leaving for the Race was my true return to Him, and He has so graciously celebrated me, giving me the strength and guidance to grow in relationship with Him.
I have learned a lot about God the past 9 months. God is a Father, a friend, a mentor… so much more! He has revealed so much of His character to me through prayer, mediation and the reading of His word. God is amazing, and He has made this experience absolutely life changing!
A few months ago, I wrote a blog titled God the Father. The blog discussed my relationship with God, and how that has come to reflect my relationship with my dad.The blog ended with that cliffhanger – nor even my dad knew what the final few words were meant to be. A few days after that blog was published, he arrived in Manila for the Parent Vision Trip, and I got to spend a week with him. He soon found out what my intentions were. I so strongly believe my relationship with God and my relationship with my dad are incredibly correlated. And that is why I have chosen my dad to baptize me into new life with Christ.”
This season, like I said, has been one of such incredible growth. I have such a better understanding of who I am in the Lord, and what my place is in God’s Kingdom! So given my newfound understanding of who the Lord is and where I stand in my relationship with Him, I decided to get baptized. And who better to baptize me than my dad, who’s relationship I have correlated to my relationship with God.
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:1-4)
I proclaimed death to old self and entered into a new life with Christ. As my body entered the water, it died with respect to the past, and rose again, alive, with new life. Christ is my cornerstone. He is the foundation that my life is to be built upon.
I have entered new life, life that I had no concept of a year ago. My life is for Christ, and for no other. Everything I do must be centered around glorifying Him. This trip has taught me so much, so much that I must now take out and apply to regular life. It has been a tool utilized in such a way that it churned out an abundance of growth. But with the close of this adventure comes the beginning of another. Let the Race begin!
