I officially ended the World Race on Dec. 2stand the day after I was back on U.S
soil.This is the first thing I wrote in my journal. Thought I would share… it is
something that I am trying to focus on and remember every day through this odd
reverse culture shock and re-entry time.
“The World Race is officially over and I am back on American soil. Still can’t
believe it is real. Thought I would be more irritated with people but surprisingly I
am not. I love being in the U.S again, it has a sense of home. I don’t look around
and see a bunch of entitled people RATHER I see a bunch of lost and beautifully
broken humans.
When we were traveling home I got this thought regarding judging others
and acknowledging cultures. I was in the Jinga, Uganda airport bathroom and a
European woman was in there using the hand dryer. I immediately thought of how I
don’t need the hand dryer and how it is so excessive (for the past 11 months I have
adapted to rarely having anything to dry my hands on). However, in that moment
Jesus revealed to me that the women using the hand dryer had a norm of drying
her hands and that is okay (I know this may all sound silly but hang with me). It is
all too funny and familiar because my normal used to be drying my hands upon
washing them (that is how I grew up). After this incident, I started to think about
how I judge others’ norms. After all, that was a huge part of this past 11 months
and 12 nations, accepting other norms and cultures. And now I am facing judging
my own culture upon re-entering it. It is not mine to look at someone eating a
fancy meal and judge the use of their money. It is not mine to see people using
excess materials and think about how wasteful they are. It is not mine to judge
how others choose to spend their time (T.V, social media, video games etc.).
Are there issues behind how people live? Absolutely! We all struggle. However, it is
not a fight between flesh and blood but of spiritual forces (Ephesians 6:12). So, this
is my continual prayer: I wouldn’t get caught in the vanity (or fleetingness) of
judging how others live RATHER I would live with love and acceptance and place my
energy and focus on Jesus and how He desires to move in the life around me, how
does He want to expel His love onto His beloved? Judging others and thinking about
how wrong and corrupt people live is not going to change anything, in fact the
more I entertain judgments the more I empower the enemy. So why, why focus on
judgments when I know true freedom, I know we live in a lost and dying world,
BUT do the people surrounding me know of the choice we all have: to live free or
live bound?
I don’t want to waste energy and toil over corruption RATHER let me live as a
FREEDOM ADMINISTER (through Jesus).
Whatever you focus on you empower!
Is the U.S culture different than the 12 other nations I got to see? YES! And that is
okay, Jesus made us different but loves us all the same and we need Him all the
same.”
Live loved
D-squad before traveling to the U.S
