Before the World Race, I spent my life always moving from adventure to adventure, trying to meet person after person, and have experience after experience.
I can’t think of a time I was at my house in Wheaton for more than a week without some adventure planned. My daily schedule was always jam packed and I was always rushing from thing to thing. Because that’s how I lived. I guess at the root of it, I thought that the more I did, the more satisfied I would be.
I never understood why people would want to live in Wheaton where there really weren’t any fun adventures except a day in Chicago or a 10 minute walk around the local forest preserve. I felt trapped for so many years and tried so hard to get out. I wanted to move out west, work in a random place, travel the world, meet crazy people, hike my life away. And so I went on the World Race. And even that didn’t satisfy in the way I thought it would.
The World Race has taught me that home is so much deeper than pretty sights and fun adventures. This year, I’ve experienced some of my favorite communities in the most unexpected places. Communities that exist in the middle of busy, dirty Ho Chi Minh city, or tucked away on a compound in middle of nowhere Ethiopia, or in a random valley of the Andes mountains in Bolivia (where the nearest wifi is 15 hours away), or a little village in Ecuador located next to the city garbage dump.
Honestly, none of these living conditions are ideal. And it just baffled me why these people were so content in these places. And I used to ask myself, why don’t these people just leave and go explore??
But the question I’ve started asking recently is, what makes them stay? What makes a place home?
You see, these people haven’t had any crazy, grand life adventures. Most of them haven’t even left their home country or even explored much outside of their home. They’re just content doing life, making a difference in their little communities. I’ve met some of the most amazing prayer warriors, demon slayers, enthusiastic pastors, servant hearted people in my life out in the middle of nowhere. These people aren’t well known, they’re not seen by many others, and they aren’t even looking for attention. They’re ordinary people, obediently serving the Lord in the area of influence that He’s given them.
Home isn’t about the things. It’s not about the delicious restaurants nearby, or the cute coffee shops, or the fun hiking trails, or the cool churches in town. Sure, those things are great, but it’s not what keeps people around.
Home is about the people.
We were created for community, and that’s what I’ve seen more and more on the World Race. After traveling around the world for 11 months, it’s not the adventures that I remember. Its not the “cool places” that I’ve lived in or that pretty mountain I hiked or that one amazing restaurant that I ate at. No, it’s so much more than that. It’s the people I’ve met, the friends I’ve done life with, the rich community that I’ve experienced. It’s the deep convos until 3am, the belly aching laughter, the moments of silliness, the times when I can be myself and feel known by the people around me. And those things can happen literally anywhere.
After traveling the world for 11 months, I couldn’t be more excited to make a home in the US (for a few years at least…). I’m excited to not have to pack up every month and move to a new place. I’m excited to get plugged into a church community and be able to invest in people long term. For the first time ever, I’m excited to move to a new place and not try to make a name for myself. I’m excited to slow down, take a breath, and be present with my little community.
Who knew that it would take 11 months of constant traveling for me to realize that everything I need is right here?? It seems that the best experiences are the ones right in front of me. It’s the people around me. It’s the experiences here and now, like enjoying a cup of coffee with a friend or watching a movie with your team or teaching kids English. It’s connection. It’s Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us. It’s the reality that Jesus unites us in a way that we will never understand.
Ultimately, we will never be completely satisfied here on earth because our home as Christians is in heaven. But I’m excited to take this new understanding of home back to the US and fill my life with quality over quantity. Physically less quantity of these things, but leaving room for more quality. Quality friendships, quality experiences, quality meals. No more rushing from thing to thing; rather, I want to slow down, cherish every moment, and make my home a place of rest; a place where people can come and feel safe and known; a place of peace, and most importantly, a place where people deeply experience the love and grace of Jesus Christ.
This is our home here in Filandia, Colombia. It’s nothing much…in fact, it’s pretty small and we sleep on our sleeping pads and its kinda dirty. BUT what makes this place a home is the community, the prayers, the laughs, the worship, and just the raw moments experienced together in this place!
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
[Psalm 63:1-4]
Join me in praying this psalm over my squad as we transition to new places and new seasons of life in just 14 DAYS!!
