Life has a way of happening faster than we have time to process it. As per the request of several squadmates this is the story of the baby goats and maybe much more.
Last month we were serving in Draganesti-Olt, Romania and I was spending the day serving with my host Marian. We loaded up in his big blue Volkswagen van, headed down the road and arrived at this house. He headed inside and came out with this box full of two beautiful baby goats. We snapped some pictures to capture the memories. I grabbed a spot with the goats in the back of the van. My job was simple: keep these kids corralled in the box—and we were off.
I imagine that the change in scenery with the speed of the van and the potholes in road was quite stressful for the little billies. This could explain why the one had explosive diarrhea 30 seconds into the trip. It was a mess. It was white. Although it all stayed inside in the box it was all over the other goat. Consequently both goats were covered.
The 20 minute drive became a 40 minute excursion. We picked up some random person on the way. The guy sat in seat in front of me. He quickly noticed the smell and I welcomed him to the goat nursery as he looked back with concern.
With time our four legged friends became more and more antsy. I was doing my darnedest to keep them penned, my hands clean, and fighting the combo of smell nausea and car sickness.
Then we arrived. We showed up at this small home with a dog chained up in front. This man and his wife welcomed us inside and quickly began care for the goats. The wife began to bottle feed them and while they struggled at first they took to it.
The whole goat trip didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Some of it was because of the language barrier. In prayer I went to the Lord and asked “What just happened? What do you want me to take away from this?”
As I listened, the answer was simply: This is what the World Race is.
It’s crazy to think that this adventure, for us, is quickly coming to a close. One wonders how in the world this experience could ever be described to family and friends back home. As I reflect on the goat trip I see the faint reflection of our own journey.
The World Race is a vessel. It’s one of the ways the Lord has taken us from a place of stagnation and death. Then through challenge, circumstance and stress has brought and is bringing us into a place of life. We were supposed to pick up four goats, but two had already died because the mother had died and the family could not afford to feed them. It is a matter circumstances and maturity. The Race has afforded incredible opportunities and safe places to grow and mature in the Lord. We all showed up bright eyed and clean for launch. We took plenty of pictures. It wasn’t long before things got messy. Goat diarrhea is not an understatement. We’ve lived in close community (5-6 people) for the last 9 months! One can say all they want about travel and adventure but community really touches everything we do. We are all broken people—mess happens. We fight, we say hurtful things, we miss home—we take our crap and we throw it on everyone else. Still the Race is a safe place to fail, to be messy, to see a truer picture of yourself (through the eyes and feedback of the people around you) and to see the Father’s hands in all of it.
That, my friends, is a glimpse of the World Race. Let me share this thought in closing:
Jesus loves goat trips. Chances are you on one of your own.
Enjoy the ride.
