I knew when I left for the World Race 1 year ago that I
would return a different person; and, I knew that it would be difficult to
return. I had no idea what the difficulties would be or how I would react to
them.
The biggest challenge returning home has been figuring out
how to balance
my
experiences with real life in America. This year I saw numerous people have
such joy with the simple things they have. I saw kids playing with bicycle
wheels and a stick, adults wrapping their groceries into cloth and placing them
on their heads, and children as happy as could be just simply running around
with one another.
The week before Christmas I found myself in the mall. It was
like I was walking around in a daze. While I was walking next to people with
huge bags filled with toys and clothing I could not help but feel also like a
fly on the wall watching people try to fill their lives with material things
that will make them happy until the next toy comes out or the fashion changes.
I could only stand it for 20 minutes before I had to get out.
And it’s not just the material things. We as Americans don’t
spend time with one another. We fill our time DOING things with people instead
of BEING with people. Instead of spending quality time with people we spend
time going to movies. We use things as a distraction to really getting to know
people. We say we really know people we spend time with but I would venture to
say that the things we could tell about someone are simply the things we think
they like based off of what we have done with them. Do you know about their
past? Do you know about their faith? Do you know anything about them other than
what type of movies they like, what type of video games they are good at, and
what stores they shop at?
And how much time have we spent praying, reading our Bible,
listening and worshiping God today? We as Americans place so many distractions
in our lives. Take a minute and add up how much time you have been on facebook
today or played a video game or texted someone else. All distractions. We can
get our email and facebook updates sent to our mobile devices so we are
‘connected’ every minute of the day. Heaven forbid we loose our phone and cant
check our facebook account.
What are we spending our money on? Now I know this is a
touchy subject. God has blessed us with income and as long as we are giving to
Him we should be able to spend it the way we want it. This is one thing I have
yet to tackle the balance
on. I currently find it VERY difficult to justify spending money on frivolous
things. I need a few clothes. I need food and water and I currently need gas in
my car to go to Georgia on Friday but I don’t need that chocolate bar, I don’t
need to go see that movie, I don’t need to go out to eat, I don’t need that
extra pair of jeans or those new cute shoes. I don’t need a lot of things, but
God has blessed me with a little money and I should be able to use it for
entertainment right? Im not sure yet. I still cant find the balance on this issue.
All I know, is that returning home as been about finding a balance in the old life I
had and the new life I learned this year. I don’t want to go back to who I was
and a big part of not doing that is finding a balance in everyday life.
On Friday I am heading to Gainesville GA to participate in
Project Searchlight. The hope behind this is to help people returning from the
World Race make sense of their lives. To help figure out what’s next for each person. To help balance the old life with
the new experiences and new desires acquired this past year.
