I dream of sleeping in my own bed, sleeping through the night because I feel safe and waking up to sun pouring in from a window. I dream of a kitchen full of ingredients to create whatever meal I want. I dream of Wi-Fi good enough to Skype my friends who are spread all over the world. I dream of walking down the street in my community alone and being completely safe. I dream of waking up in America, in my bedroom by myself.
But just before I fall asleep, and fall into those dreams I think about how another day of this Race has flown by. How the number of days is getting shorter and shorter. I think about how the two girls who are asleep next to me in our windowless room will be heading home to their states and how I won’t be able to joke with them about all the beans our host feeds us and they won’t be here to remind me of all the growth and all the things that God has taught me in the past year. I think about leaving 24/7 community with these amazing people and how stepping back into life at home is going to be culture shock. I think about stepping off the plane in Oregon and how I won’t be the same person who got on the plane back in September.
Right now as I write this blog it’s the middle of the night/early morning with only 11 days left on my Race.
I can’t sleep because in 24hrs there will only be 10 days till I am back in the USA.
I can’t sleep because I can’t stop thinking about the ways I’ve grown, the things I’ve learned, the people I’ve met, the lives I’ve seen changed, the cultures I’ve experienced, the countries I’ve gotten to walk in, the ministries I’ve gotten to walk alongside, and the God who brought me through all of it.
I want to tell you why I’m different.
I want to share the things I’ve learned.
1) I’ve learned that we don’t need to go anywhere to do mission work.
Sometimes God calls a person overseas. I know he called me on the World Race because he needed me to be his hands and feet, and I needed this trip to grow in relationship with him. But a lot of times God doesn’t call us overseas. He calls us to do mission work where we are. He calls us to minister exactly where he has us. He calls us to love the community around us, at school, at work, at church, wherever we are, whatever we are doing. For me right now, I’m being called back the USA, to a country that desperately needs love and grace.
2) I’ve learned that I should not fear man, I should only fear God.
When we live in a life where we fear man, we base our actions and the things we say on what other people think and how we think that they will judge us. Fearing man holds us back from doing the things that God has created us to do. Fearing man holds us back from helping the needy, from saying the hard things, and from walking in our identity in Christ.
3) I’ve learned that God wants me to walk in freedom and intimacy with him.
My relationship with God is my own. Its not dictated by anyone else, or by their relationship with God. God wants me to be free to be who he made me to be and not hold back, he wants me to walk in freedom so that I can walk in step with his plans for my life.
4) Creation is beautiful and astounding and magnificent.
Wanderlust. Never before have I wanted to see the world as much as I do now after experiencing a taste of it. There are so many different landscapes and beautiful things to see. There is so much peace and hope and restoration in nature, it’s the perfect place to hunker down and hang out with God.
5) Adventure is out there.
Adventure doesn’t have to be expensive. And it doesn’t have to be what you see in travel magazines. Adventure is wandering a new town and discovering cool graffiti art or finding a trendy coffee shop or hiking in a new place. Adventure is grabbing your BFF and going around town searching for the Bagel Barn or doing random photo shoots in front of graffiti walls.
6) Beans still suck.
No other explanation needed.
A compiled list doesn’t even begin to explain the things I’ve learned and the stories I have to tell. I have so many stories and so many lessons learned. But the greatest that I’ve learned is that people just need love. I have been to places that have seen immense pain and loss, genocides, wars, corrupt governments and spiritual warfare. But at the end of the day each one of those people is seeking love. They don’t want us to drill them on their sins, they don’t need us to argue about their faith, they don’t need us to preach at them.
They need love.
They need me to show understanding and compassion. They need me to accept them as they are. They need to be heard and feel appreciated.
They need love.
If I had to pick one lesson to take home with me it would be this. Ministry is not forcing a religion onto someone. Ministry is sharing love with someone unconditionally. Now more than ever the USA and the world need this kind of ministry. Now more than ever the world needs LOVE.
Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
