One week into the race and I already have found myself correcting quite possibly the biggest mistake you can make before the race: going into it with expectations.
By no means do I think expectations are bad. Expectations actually are important to a certain degree and in certain situations, but after one week, I can tell you that the world race is not one of those situations. When I found out about the race- before I even paid that $39.00 application fee- I did my research. No, I didn’t go read blogs of people who have done it. I didn’t google anything about Adventures in Mission. I can’t lie, I took the easy route and as you might have already guessed- I went straight for the visuals. I headed straight to Instagram to look at that glorious #worldrace and #3n9 hashtag proudly displayed on every previous and current racers photos.
I’m more of a visual person. I love looking at photos and putting myself in that moment. I love putting myself in that persons shoes and imagining what they felt. Imagining what their eyes saw as they looked through that lens, or at that camera and beyond. And boy, did those pictures on everyones Instagram have me sold. They were showing the sweet love of Jesus through songs and hugs to orphans who haven’t felt love before. They were looking at unimaginable masterpieces sky in the made by our Father from beautiful beaches. They were smiling and chatting and drinking coffee with the local people in artsy skirts handmade by women at the market. They looked calm, cool and collected while sharing the love of The Lord.
What that hashtag didn’t show is a few teenagers in long sleeves, long pants, gloves and beat up rain boots dripping a gross amount of sweat in the middle of a field in Thailand. That hashtag did not contain images of teenagers shoveling and bagging 4 layers deep of goat poop. That hashtag offered nothing of that nature.
But that’s what I’ve been doing.
I have been sweating more than I ever thought I could. I have been covered in dust and dirt and goat feces. I have showered night after night and I have still smelt bad. I have dirt so far under my nails, I don’t know when or if it is even going to come out. I have so many bug bites that they have resorted to just not biting me because there isn’t anywhere else left to bite. It has not been easy. It has been tough to have my sweat dripping into my eyes the second I walk outside, even after I wipe it away. It has been gross to have smelly clothes and constant wet and muddy feet. (Jack Sentz has tortured us all with the thought of trench foot.) It has been disgusting to know that I am not shoveling dirt but actual, fosilized animal droppings. It has been exhausting to even just think about it.
But it has been worth it and it has been awesome.
Yes.
Disgusting, manual labor that I have never even considered doing- or that I have ever wanted to do- has been fun. It has been what the world race is about. I sure didn’t see it right away. In fact, right off the bat my mind diverted to the exact, pitiful statement of “This is not what I signed up for.” This was not the beautiful orphans or sunsets or sun rises. This was not eating unique snacks and having casual conversations with the people of the area. What I got stuck doing was awful. I was really thinking that this had to be some sort of joke. My mind was constantly drifting to the thought of the photos I had seen. By the end of the first half of our first day, just after 4 hours spent at the farm, I couldn’t help but ask “Why me Lord!!!!! You know I don’t do manual labor!!! I struggle just cleaning my room!!!!!”
Sooner than later though, it dawned on me. This is what I signed up for. This is exactly what I signed up for. I signed up to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I signed up to be put wherever He wanted me. I signed up to serve Him and serve the people that He loves so dearly. I signed up to be more like Him. Where I would be placed on this trip, would be where He wanted me. He knows exactly what He is doing. The farming we have been doing helps not only the family we are staying with, but the people of their village as well. By the girls building handmade posts out of bamboo for eggplants to climb up and the boys collecting bananas that the real farmers have chopped down and collecting 120+ bags of animal droppings for fertlizers for their crops we are indeed building the kingdom.
We are extra hands to do months worth of work in just a few days. Lord willing, we are exactly what the people of Kanchanaburi, Thailand needed at this time. It’s been a blessing to not only them, but me as well.
Each moment on the race- and in life- will nonetheless, be what you choose to make it. You can either be frustrated that what has been handed to you wasn’t your first choice and you can pout that it wasn’t YOUR ideal. Or, YOU can choose to be joyful. You can be joyful knowing that you are serving The Lord and those around you. You can use the tough moments out on the farm, or wherever you may be, to share laughs with the people you are with, crack jokes, talk sports that you love and sing Taylor Swift (sorry boys, but thanks for singing along Maddux!) at the top of your lungs. You can appreciate what is around you and those around you.
The only expectation you should have is knowing you get to serve an AWESOME God, because regardless of where you’re at: school, orphanage, farm, church or otherwise, that is what you get to do.
