Adventure isn’t always fun.
Let’s be honest, sometimes it just isn’t.
I am spending twelve hours on buses today. Team End Zone is heading back to Gaborone, Botswana after an exhausting, jam packed, adventurous five days in northern Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. We unexpectedly had five days off and decided to make the most of it.
Three days of travel, Victoria Falls, a safari and a boat cruise.
I slept outside under the stars one night. The other nights we stayed in tents, moved campsites every day and woke up one morning with several tents sitting in inches of water. We were wet and cold for over 24 hours, and the last thing I wanted was to move tents again. All I wanted was a hot shower and for my belongings to be dry. I wanted to crawl into a warm bed, not a smelly, damp sleeping bag in a wet tent.
It honestly wasn’t always fun. Our safari left at 5:45am in the pouring rain, before the truck even moved we were soaking wet and freezing. We laughed so we wouldn’t cry.
We got drenched at Victoria Falls, which was SO FUN! We were attacked by Baboons, some of the girls bungee jumped, we were in three countries in one day and went home exhausted.
We almost ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere in Zimbabwe and swerved left and right for a while to keep momentum. That was an adventure in itself.
We haven’t slept past 6:20 am in days. We played cards, ate not enough food, belly laughed in tents and made some stinking awesome memories. We went on a boat cruise in between Botswana and our unchartered territory, Namibia, as we watched the sun set over another new country that was so close, yet so far away.
I found Fruity Mirinda, a drink I loved in Uganda and haven’t seen since. I was so stinking excited I even took pictures with it.
We watched Hippos eating, Hippos fighting, Hippos mating and Hippos being pooped on by birds.
Now we are on the bus after a whirlwind of a few days and I am again reminded that sometimes adventures aren’t fun.
I am sitting here with not enough leg room once again.
With a seat that is made for someone the size of a toothpick, while surrounded by basically no one who is the size of a toothpick.
The seat is uncomfortable and I shove my jacket at the bottom so the metal sides don’t dig into my lower back.
It is hot. One of those journeys where if I am lucky enough to fall asleep for a minute, I wake up dripping in sweat with my thighs sticking to the people next to me.
I’m not sure sure if I stink or if it is the person next to me, or both.
Someone is talking loudly on a phone in a language that doesn’t make any sense.
African music is not my favorite on bus rides – and it is LOUD.
Sometimes these moments make me thankful that it is month 10 instead of month 2.
It’s easy to let my brain escape in these moments, thoughts of home come easily. It’s a whole new ball game when I have an arrival date and time for Little Rock. It is official, it is real life, I can’t be in denial anymore.
But at the same time I want to stay present. We discuss daily how many days we have left on the Race. I only have 48 days until this chapter of my life is over. FORTY EIGHT DAYS.
It’s easy to think of home, of comforts, of my family and homemade dinners instead of PB&J, my bed instead of a damp sleeping bag, a car instead of a packed bus. But I know that whether I think of home or not, it’ll be here before I know it. I know that instead of being in my cold, wet sleeping bag inches from my friends face dreaming of a big, warm bed all to myself I will be in a big, warm bed all to myself dreaming of my cold, wet sleeping bag inches from my friends face.
These moments aren’t always fun but then I remember:
Adventure isn’t always fun, BUT IT IS ALWAYS WORTH IT.
Another bus ride in another foreign country.
Another seat crammed in between two teammates, two friends who a year ago I didn’t know existed and now I can’t imagine life without. I look at the other people on this bus, who don’t know my teammates and wonder why Papa chose to bless me with their friendships. I wouldn’t change it for anything.
Another gorgeous sunset out of a streaked, dirt covered window.
Another Coca Cola.
Another song blasting in my headphones.
Another day full of simple blessings and opportunities to embrace this life we have been given.
It’s Easter, I was given a chance to watch both the sunrise and the sunset. I have had all day to spend sitting, worshipping and thanking Jesus for the cross because without it life would have no meaning. My teammate keeps handing out jelly beans and we keep saying “He has risen! He has risen indeed!”
When we stopped to change a tire I got to be the person who peed behind a tree while an African lady watched from a distance – her first sighting of a white butt I am sure. What a lucky woman.
These are the moments. It’s not always fun, but it is ALWAYS worth it. The adventures, the good times, the hard times, the bus rides, the opportunity to show my Papa’s love by smiling at someone, the long days of ministry, whether it seems fruitful or not. Every second of this journey has been worth it.
Every second of your journey is worth it too, my friends, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Your life is an adventure, it may not be fun right now, but I know that all the pain and uncomfortable situations you may be in will be worth it in the long run! Keep going, find the joy in the hard times, remember that we are here for CHRIST and His glory and that one day you’ll be sitting by His side thankful for the opportunities He has given you to show love, even when showing love may have been the last thing you wanted to do.
Keep pressing on, keep loving, keep adventuring, keep laughing and keep shining God’s light!
Happy Easter, friends!
