* Before I begin, I want to say that I have completed my “picture-a-day” challenge for 2011! I truly enjoyed taking a picture each day, and I love looking back at my year through those pictures. It allowed me to find joy in the little things of life and appreciate just how much God has blessed me. I made a little video below encompassing my year. Also, for those of you who enjoy my daily updates on tumblr to see and hear what I’m doing, I’m going to continue that for the duration of the race and possibly throughout 2012. Check it out at nick-rice.tumblr.com!
I can confidently say that 2011 was the year I experienced the most “big” changes. I completed my biggest accomplish of my life: getting a college diploma. Less than two months after that, I started this little journey called the World Race where I had to leave home for a year to travel the world. It meant that I couldn’t enjoy the comforts of home, see my family, or even get my own two feet under me in the real world. And trust me, creating another year of “what are you going to do with your life” is a huge struggle for me, who likes to have my life planned out. This year is also the first time in my life where I no longer have a defined “goal;” when you’ve been planning for college since 4th grade, not having a next step is terrifying.
As I sit back and reflect on what 2011 was to me—the highs, the lows, the “in-betweens”—I can’t help but believe that this was a great year for me. I can see how God has been working in me, I can remember all the good times I had with my friends the first 6 months of the year, and how I received a whole new group of friends to spend the second 6 months with. One of the biggest struggles facing me in 2012 is how I’m going to maintain both sets of friendships once I return to the states. Even in the struggles of this year, I can see how God takes care of me. For instance, I graduated college with no idea what I was going to do with my life, and what does God do? He puts me in a situation where I don’t need to (and can’t really) think about future plans. Or when I was nervous about leaving my community for a year, He fills the void with 50 AWESOME people who I can call my brothers and sisters.
And now I’m sitting here looking at the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012.
The New Year is a time to start fresh; to hit the reset button; to stop what you’re doing, assess where you are, and readjust your trajectory accordingly. At this time of year, people make “resolutions” that they can put into practice next year in order to make their life better. Resolutions run across the whole spectrum of self-help. Maybe someone wants to lose weight or stop smoking. Perhaps someone else wants to live more frugally because the credit card bills are piling up. Of course, there are always the spiritual who vow to go to church more or read the bible in a year. Or maybe they want to complete a task they’ve always dreamed of, like getting a college degree.
The World Race puts you in a weird place at the end of the year. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for creating typical “resolutions” for the new year. For instance, it’s hard to be on a diet when you’re living on $3 a day and have to eat whatever your contacts give you (not that I’m looking to lose weight). There’s also the little problem of knowing that life will look extremely different again in June when I return to the States.
In spite of all that, I have decided to write out some New Year’s Resolutions that I can apply to my life both on the race and once I get home.
-Find joy in the Lord in everything I do.
-Don’t get caught up in the little things, but love unconditionally
-Push through the awkwardness and become more vulnerable with teammates, friends, and family.
-Dig deep to pull out the junk in my heart so I can grow closer to the Lord.
-Invest more in relationships with teammates and squadmates.
-Seek big things in the name of the Lord, and have faith in that.
-Go all in to ministry.
-Spend more time with the Lord in prayer and worship.
-Look for God in everything. In teammates, in creation, in the people we minister to, in every person I come in contact with this year.
-Thank God for everything on a daily basis.
-Honor everyone.
What are some of your New Year’s Resolutions?
