This one time in Bulgaria I was sitting next to Fusebox Mel watching the series finale of The Office….
While being bombarded with grief over the loss of an amazing show…… I had this profound thought…..
Ready……
The World Race is eerily similar to The Office
Think about it…
Racers spend 11 crazy, fun, challenging hard months together in community… A community that can sometimes look as dysfunctional as the Dunder Mifflin employees…. You get to catch a glimpse of this amazing journey were on not through a "Documentary" but through blogs and videos…
With this being said
We can also glean a lot of wisdom from The Office for this crazy life were living!
(The following points came from the series finale of the office)
#1
Beauty in the ordinary!!!
Racers- we're just a bunch of ordinary people. People who came from school and 9-5 jobs… People who were tired, broke, and sometimes lost. But God has taken the ordinary and made something beautiful. He has taken his people and transformed them into an image of his love!
#2
Staying present is HARD!!!
There will times on the race when you wake up and wish you could be anywhere besides the place you are. There will be times when you wake up and want to pack you bags and leave. There will be days when you don't want to do feedback/dinner/ministry with your team…. but after pressing through all of that… when the time finally comes and your 11 months are over…. You are going to realize how easy it is to waste time. At the end, your going to ask….. Why in the world does it feel so hard to leave the people who 11 months ago were strangers?!?
#3
You learn to make wherever you are home!!
I am not going to lie, living out of a backpack is hard!! Its hard packing your life away every month and moving on…. However, you learn to make wherever you are home! It may be hard to imagine now, but the people around you really do become family!
#4
The WR in perspective is short! Go deep with no regrets!
11 months seems long when your stateside! It's hard to imagine leaving your family and friends…. but when you get on that plane at launch you'll soon realize your next 11 months are going to fly! Don't wait till month five to invest in those around you. Be intentional because the race just isn't that long.
#5
The 11 months you spend on the race can change you…. if you let it!!!
There comes a point on the race that you realize you can go home completely the same. Don't be okay with that! Choose to allow God to mold you into who he wants you to be daily! Go home knowing God truly used the race to change you forever.
#6
Through the bad days, tears, homesickness, feedback, team changes, and tough ministry… there will come a point when you learn that despite all those challenging things there is part of you that doesn't want it to end. You realize as hard as it may be you want community!
#7
When it's over….
You will eventually go back to your life or whatever new endeavor God has called you to do, and you will never get those 11 months back. Make the best of them! Laugh, cry, pull pranks, be vulnerable!!!
(Team LEGO)
We are building on God's foundation.
As sisters in Christ we are called to build each other up.
We have each identified something in our lives that we need to let go of.
Because we are committed to letting go of anything and everything that is not pushing us more towards God. -Fusebox Mel
(Travel day ritual!! Get that stuff in their!! Kazanlak, Bulgaria)
(Cherry picking- Bulgaria)
Photo credit: Rollie
(Off day at the Black Sea- Varna, Bulgaria)
Photo credit: Rollie
(Celebrating Easter twice on the Race)
Photo credit: Rollie
Quote of the month:
Pastor G-
"We know English will be the language spoken in Heaven, because it's the only one you guys can learn"
