Dear end of the race Quinn,
Please remember the past 11 months are not going to be the best 11 months of your life. You did a lot, you called 11 different countries home and you left a piece of your heart in all of them. Saying good-bye to these past 11 months is going to be hard, but it is a process and if you have learned anything this year than you would know that everything is a process. It is important to grieve the seasons and address what you are going through. Remember to draw closer to the Lord.
Remember all the growth and change you walked through. You are returning home a different person, you have seen and experienced things that have caused you to smile, laugh and cry. You have heard stories of young girls being sold into the sex trade because their families are desperate for money, so you ate at a cafe just to support their ministry of preventing these things from happening. You lived through the sadness of the red light district as you saw girl after girl get taken away by men, and you witnessed the fear in their eyes. You sat there and wondered how you can save these people from the darkness they are living in and realized you can’t change the world. You realized that all you can do is love on these people, whether it is a child who has everything or one that has nothing, a girl trapped in the sex trade or the man that buys her, the drug addicts and alcoholics or the person making you coffee every morning. You have learned that everyone has a story and that they all deserve to be loved and that is what you did. There are some things that are going to be unexplainable and no matter how hard you try explaining them, people will still not be able to understand and identify with them.
Remember the time in India when you were struggling to get through the days and how the Lord gave you strength. He gave you a 17 year old girl to speak over and hear her story. Even though you had no idea how to answer her questions what was coming out of your mouth was powerful, as she cried in your lap and said she felt God’s comfort for the first time. Remember the time where you climbed out of your tent that you didn’t want to sleep in and the kids greeted you with nice warm hugs. Remember the time a pastor stopped his car in the middle of the road, because he wanted you to bless his baby. Remember the time you walked up to a prayer room in a place that persecution was so real and watched several women worshiping the Lord with big tears running down their face. Remember the small moments, because even if you weren’t adventuring and doing thrilling things, they are the moments that made the race what it was.
Remember the moments you worshiped as a squad and you could feel God’s presence in the room, or the time spiritual warfare was so present that it caused confusion and clarification on the matter. This shook you all so much that you turned to prayer and leaned on God and trusted that he was going to heal these people. He is the only one that can cast out evil and then you saw people walk out in freedom. You heard your squad mates stories of feeling freedom after talking it through and by bringing things to the light that they have hidden in their hearts for so long. You started craving vulnerability and being fully known by your team mates. You opened up and you couldn’t believe how close you got with your team in the short time you were together. They fully knew you and loved you anyways, remember how that felt and continue living intentionally with everyone you meet. It makes a world of difference.
Remember the fear you had when you looked at the amount you had to raise to get to where you are now. You wouldn’t be sitting at the end of an 11 month journey without God’s continuous provision. He provided when you prayed for a specific supporter and he is still providing for you, but in different ways. Don’t ever forget to lean on him in the hard times, adjusting back to life at home is going to be hard. You may feel like you don’t fit in anymore, but remember that this is where the Lord has you for the season and to walk this journey of life with him. Continue to live missionally, Canada needs God as well as the past 11 countries you visited. Take everything you learned this year and apply it to life at home, you didn’t just travel the world, but you lived among the people and experienced so many things.
You went into the trip not knowing what intimacy with the Lord looks like, but you craved that love. You asked for help and clarification when you needed it. You asked how to distinguish the Lords voice from the voiced in your head. You started spiritual disciplines and realized how good you felt. You sought after it, you asked your teammates for accountability and they held you to it, find someone at home that can hold you accountable. Don’t ever stop craving that intimacy and fall deeper in love with the Lord. He is a good good father and you have seen that over and over this year. You started handing over all your baggage and walking in freedom a little everyday, continue to do that, walk in freedom it feels so good.
You lived a year overseas and while some people may envy your experiences, remember that they too lived a year without you. They lived through happy, sad and exciting times as well. There were weddings, birthdays and holidays missed, don’t forget to ask about their year as well. They will be so excited to see you and hear your stories. You may not know how to answer their questions at first, but that is okay, tell them what you can and tell them what you can’t later. Remind them that you want to hear their stories too, living across the world isn’t easy and just because they were at home their stories are worth telling as well. You traveled for a year and that is amazing, but it isn’t the best year of your life. There is so much in store for you and each year will bring new experiences, so embrace them, tell your stories and let people know that you serve an awesome God.
Love,
Beginning of the race Quinn
