We are wrapping up our seventh month on the Race. We have been to three continents. Next week, we will be in our eighth month and on our fourth and final continent. We have seen sights that “breathtaking” is too weak of a word to fully describe. We have made memories of a lifetime and laughed together. Our Facebooks and Instagrams are full of beautiful images.
The World Race is not defined by the “typical WR Instagram photo.” There are many things about the World Race that do not make it onto Instagram.
Leaving a country after a month has become normal for us. We’re used to the hard, painful goodbyes. We’re used to packing and re-packing our backpacks as we go to a new country–full of new languages, new cultural norms, and new ministries to learn. We are professionals at handling long travel days, time changes, and language barriers.
The World Race has become normal for us, but that does not mean it is always easy.
Right now, half of my team is out doing ministry. Half of the team, including me, are sick at home. I have had some form of sickness every month on the Race (but it isn’t always a huge sickness; I count even getting a cold as getting sick). Getting sick every month is exhausting, mentally and physically. To put this in perspective, before the Race, I called out of work less than ten times in the four and a half years that I worked at my pre-Race job. There will never be an Instagram photo of the time when you are so hot that you end up vomiting in the middle of the night, into a squatty potty. There will never be a cute caption of the time when your stomach decides to not agree with the food you are eating, yet again. There is not a clever hashtag for when you can not stop snot from running out of your nose.
It is not easy being thousands of miles and a few time zones away from your family. Missing out on holidays and special moments has not gotten any easier as the Race has gone on. No matter where I am on the earth, part of my heart is still with my loved ones back home. Homesickness, as well as “my people” sickness are very real.
And then there are things about the Race itself that are hard, on purpose. Living in constant community is hard. Being vulnerable is hard. Team changes every few months are hard. Letting God mold you into who you are meant to be is sometimes really hard. Doing ministry almost every day is hard at times. Reading Scripture and praying daily is hard. Loving people well when you are emotionally exhausted is hard.
Even with all of these challenges, I would not want an “easy”, “always Instagram perfect” World Race. I don’t want a watered-down, convenient, easy World Race. I signed up for eleven months that would stretch me. I signed up for eleven months of opportunities to grow. I signed up for eleven months of bringing His Kingdom to earth. I signed up for eleven months of my life being changed. I signed up for eleven months of “Yes, Lord.” I signed up for eleven months of looking more like Jesus; I never signed up for eleven months of vacation.
