It’s been about two months since my squad returned home after eleven months on the field. Or, to phrase it differently, Month #13 of my Race is coming to an end.
What’s new?
Well, I still haven’t stopped.
I still live out of a suitcase.
I still don’t have a permanent address.
My bed is still stuck in the corner of a 5×10 storage unit.
I no longer have to have a buddy to go grocery shopping.
I don’t receive loving feedback every night.
I don’t have five other sisters with whom to share daily life.
I’ve been to Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Berkeley, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Gainesville, and back to Los Angeles. I haven’t stayed anywhere for more than two weeks since my squad was in Swaziland in November. Tonight I fly to Chile for two months, and after that I still won’t stop. I don’t foresee myself fully unpacking my bags until mid-April. It’s like a 16-month Race, except now I have carpeted floors and slightly warmer showers. Oh, and a boyfriend (surprise!).
It’s hard to talk about the Race with people who didn’t go on the Race with you. Your vocabulary has changed. Your view of the world has changed. Your friends still see you as the person who left 11 (or 12, or 13) months ago. Your parents will probably still worry about you when your friend takes you for a drive somewhere (don’t they know you rode on the friggin’ roof of a pick-up truck without a seatbelt in Honduras?!) or when you ask to borrow the car (c’mon! I drove on the other side of the road in South Africa for three straight hours! I can handle LA traffic!). It’ll be impossible to explain a year of your life in 30 seconds, despite having thoroughly filled out all the re-entry guides that you got at Month Eight Debrief. You’ll still be at a loss for words when someone comes up to you and asks you that one question… Oh, you know it well…
“HOW WAS YOUR TRIP AROUND THE WORLD?”
When you finally find the words to explain your year while carefully omitting all the lingo and abbrev’s you picked up along the journey, chances are you will be regarded as a hero.
“Wow, you gave up a year of your life to go do good around the world! That’s awesome!”
Or…
“I admire young people so much. You guys are so brave and energetic.”
Or…
“Oh I wish I could do something like that, but I could never handle it! I admire you.”
Have you heard those responses?
Dear Race Alumni,
We are not heroes. We are not holier, better Christians, or saviors of the world because we simply said yes to Jesus. We didn’t “give up” a year of our lives –we gained a year of Life! We are not martyrs. We are not extraordinary people. We are ordinary people who said yes to God. We weren’t changed because we went on the World Race –we were changed because we let God change us. It’s not amazing that we did this for God –it’s amazing that God did these things for us. The people around us, the people in our lives, can experience the same in their lives simply by allowing God to work in them. We get to be the living, walking, breathing testimony of what it means to say yes to Jesus.
Listen to the promptings of the Spirit. Every step you take is a divine appointment ready to start, and the office of The Lord is always open for business.
Welcome back, Racers. Keep running this Race. It doesn’t stop because we’re back. This IS our life now.
