“Without purpose, life is a meaningless journey”
More than a year ago on Sept 1, 2009, I finished my first
World Race trip. It was the most incredible and life changing year of my life
to that date. I had seen sights and met all sort of amazing people all over the
world. It was a time of brokenness and transformation that I never knew existed.
It was another wonderful blessing and privilege to be apart and have
experienced what I went through. Then came the “re-entry process”. As a world
racer, you learn (or at least try to learn) that expectations are a waste of
time and you see more than ever how much God really is in control. You spend
the year experiencing so much out of your comfort zone and stretching in ways
you didn’t think you could because of the lifestyle you live. But it still
doesn’t fully prepare you for life after the race and going back home. When I
got back home last September, I was so excited to see and share stories with
family and friends. Funny thing was life had continued on without me in Texas and people had
stories of there own. I remember all the things that had happened within the first
48 hours and how I never felt this alone before. I couldn’t relate with anyone
from home nor could I find comfort about what was next in my life. It didn’t
take long for me to actually be crying in my mom’s arms. True story. I had
become so use to my World Race community, team, and
lifestyle that I actually
wanted to be more with them then my old comforts from home and the people that
were there. I was selfish and crazy enough to believe that the Lord had
forsaken me. This process went on and off over the next 3-4 months before I
moved to Spain
in January 2010.
World Race trip. It was the most incredible and life changing year of my life
to that date. I had seen sights and met all sort of amazing people all over the
world. It was a time of brokenness and transformation that I never knew existed.
It was another wonderful blessing and privilege to be apart and have
experienced what I went through. Then came the “re-entry process”. As a world
racer, you learn (or at least try to learn) that expectations are a waste of
time and you see more than ever how much God really is in control. You spend
the year experiencing so much out of your comfort zone and stretching in ways
you didn’t think you could because of the lifestyle you live. But it still
doesn’t fully prepare you for life after the race and going back home. When I
got back home last September, I was so excited to see and share stories with
family and friends. Funny thing was life had continued on without me in Texas and people had
stories of there own. I remember all the things that had happened within the first
48 hours and how I never felt this alone before. I couldn’t relate with anyone
from home nor could I find comfort about what was next in my life. It didn’t
take long for me to actually be crying in my mom’s arms. True story. I had
become so use to my World Race community, team, and
lifestyle that I actuallywanted to be more with them then my old comforts from home and the people that
were there. I was selfish and crazy enough to believe that the Lord had
forsaken me. This process went on and off over the next 3-4 months before I
moved to Spain
in January 2010.
During my 6 months at G-42 in Spain, I was able to process a lot
of what had happened on the World Race in a healthy way. Andrew Shearman spent
6 months working on me to help me get over myself and step into my duties. To
summarize, my time in Spain
brought me to realize that I desperately needed more DISCIPLINE, STRUCTURE and
more importantly PURPSOSE in my life. Christ makes life’s instructions easy…
Love Him, love people, share the Gospel, and make Disciples of ALL Nations. But
leave it to us to think we know better than God and confuse these simple
commandments with details of how and when we should fulfill these instructions
in our daily life.
of what had happened on the World Race in a healthy way. Andrew Shearman spent
6 months working on me to help me get over myself and step into my duties. To
summarize, my time in Spain
brought me to realize that I desperately needed more DISCIPLINE, STRUCTURE and
more importantly PURPSOSE in my life. Christ makes life’s instructions easy…
Love Him, love people, share the Gospel, and make Disciples of ALL Nations. But
leave it to us to think we know better than God and confuse these simple
commandments with details of how and when we should fulfill these instructions
in our daily life.
I had lost sight that I had significant purpose in thisworld, but also that God had a plan to use me for great things. During my 6
months in Spain,
I had started to work on plans of what I felt the Lord calling me to pursue. I
had some amazing people to help guide me and see the big picture in making a
long term plan. More importantly, I had decided to make a choice and commit to something
long term that the Lord had offered to me. When I came to Texas,
I knew I had a crazy schedule taking me all over the U.S. but all that traveling wasn’t
an excuse for me to be selfish and not be joyful. I finally had direction! I
had a plan! I was doing it! I knew how to carry out and live the purpose in my
life. There has been A LOT of grunt work for a couple months leading up to my
time to head out on the World Race again. But I can honestly say that during
all my time of preparation that I was very excited about the future and all the
work I was doing for the upcoming season in my life.
My hope and prayer to all that read this blog is to find
PURPOSE in your life. Fulfilling purpose should be a primary goal in our lives.
I think it looks different for everyone, but many people don’t even think to
look for what that specifically is. A mentor a mine puts it this way… “Without
purpose, life is a meaningless journey”. It’s a bold statement, but I think
it’s a fairly true and needed to be told. For all you past, current, or future
world racers, know that there is life after the World Race. We don’t go on this
life changing experience only to go back home and do nothing. It takes some action
and productivity on our end for us to figure out the next step or steps. Life
will only be meaningless and suck if you think it does.
PURPOSE in your life. Fulfilling purpose should be a primary goal in our lives.
I think it looks different for everyone, but many people don’t even think to
look for what that specifically is. A mentor a mine puts it this way… “Without
purpose, life is a meaningless journey”. It’s a bold statement, but I think
it’s a fairly true and needed to be told. For all you past, current, or future
world racers, know that there is life after the World Race. We don’t go on this
life changing experience only to go back home and do nothing. It takes some action
and productivity on our end for us to figure out the next step or steps. Life
will only be meaningless and suck if you think it does.
