Before the Race I knew Jesus cared about the details or at least it was head knowledge, but since living this life it’s now become heart knowledge. Maybe I didn’t pay attention before or maybe it was due to the ease and accessibility of everything back home, but I never seemed to see things like I’m seeing now. For instance, if I wanted or needed a new pair of jeans I’d simply go buy a pair. Problem solved, but on the Race it’s nearly impossible to acquire much due to where and how we’re living. It’s incredible though because it puts you in a new place of dependence on God that I’d otherwise never have the opportunity of experiencing. It has allowed God the chance to meet my needs and desires in the gaps where something or someone would have typically gotten in the way.
Basketball has always been a love of mine. Spending hours shooting feeds my soul and helps me feel more centered and connected to God. Coming on the Race I tried to accept the fact it would probably be a rare occurrence unless I was assigned to a particular sports ministry allowing me to play. In Panama (month 1) we had a court a little over a mile from our house and we walked almost daily to play pick up games! In Costa Rica (month 2) the feeding center had a hoop in the corner of the building so I could literally crawl out of my tent and play with the kids and my squadmates. In Nicaragua (month 3) my team was placed at a Young Life camp where there was an entire gymnasium on the base so after our workday was finished I could end the day shooting around and running the court before helping collect firewood for the evening. For the next four months I didn’t have one and I felt my “luck” had ran out. In Cambodia (month 8) we were driven into the city for a week. It was the Cambodian New Year and as we were staying at a church we went out one day and found the old Olympic Stadium. I walked into this incredible structure and was like a kid in a candy shop. Maybe this sounds silly, especially if you’d see it because birds flew all around the holes in the ceiling, bat feces literally covered the ground, and there were no lights, but I thought….I’ve got to find a ball. I talked to some of my teammates and we went searching. Mind you it’s not like America where there’s a Dick’s Sporting Goods or even a Nike store around the corner. We walked around the entire city and into a mall. There were no balls. I was beginning to accept it just wasn’t in the cards, until we turned a corner to try to find a staircase to leave and a man was sitting on a stool selling a handful of children’s toys and there was one basketball hanging. You’ve got to be kidding me. I later drug the ball to Africa because best-case scenario I would get to use it for the next three months leaving it behind with a kid. I landed in Swaziland and rode the rocky, dirt roads to my homestead for the month a half hour outside the nearest city. As I got out of the van what was outside our hut but a basketball goal! I also eye spied one later in the city and worked out a deal with the security guard to play on the court an afternoon. God cares about the little things.
I also love biscuits and gravy. I love them. I had them back in the states obviously but the places we’ve traveled doesn’t really have milk and so gravy is super hard to come by and biscuits typically mean crackers so it’s been a struggle. In Thailand (month 6) we met a guy, Bud, who’s incredible! We worked alongside him most days and I grew extremely fond of him. As the two of us became good friends he mentioned to me one day how much he loves cooking- yes Lord! He asked what food I missed the most from America so I told him of my love I left back in the states. A week before we left to go to our next ministry site he asked us to come by his house before work. When we showed up he had piles….I mean serious piles of biscuits and a huge pan of gravy and he had my plate ready! I’m telling you….that man….God cares about the little things!
In Laos (month 7) I started getting anxious about post-Race. What the heck was I going to do? What did God want? I wanted to know and I had a little conversation with Him that went something like, “Hey I know You have a plan for me. Will You just tell me what it is so I can relax and rest in it and I promise I’ll be present the rest of the Race. If You don’t tell me and hold out You know I’ll end up spending time trying to look up jobs and applying so I need something from You and I would love details please.” Oh He answered. I was sitting in a college classroom in rural Laos looking at a worksheet the teacher gave us and I felt Him whisper, turn it over and write what I tell you. Forty-five minutes later I stopped writing and couldn’t believe it. He had given me a very detailed outline of my next steps and what He has for me. God cares about the little things!
In Cambodia (month 8) I had hit a wall with God and needed some answers and guidance. I felt Him calling me to a fast and so for three days I fasted and wrote out 11 things I was praying for clarity and guidance in. I showed up and needed Him to as well. I needed to hear His voice and feel Him. He rocked me those three days. I heard His voice more than I ever have before. He showed up all right and met me in all 11 of those things. Those three days changed our relationship forever. God cares about the little things!
I’m a huge Denver Broncos fan and the Super Bowl before last was a painful one. We lost…pretty badly to where your friends don’t even bother sending harassing text messages. When I signed up for the Race one of things I said to my squad was how sweet it would be to find a Broncos Super Bowl Championship t-shirt while traveling the world. They obviously make gear for both teams and when the game is over they send the gear for the losing team overseas. I felt it…its in Africa. Landing in Swaziland some of my squadmates reminded me of my wish from so many months ago. One afternoon standing at a care point off a dirt road in Swaziland taking care of the kids a man walks up. I talked with him for a minute before he left. I stood there and it hit me. He was in sports clothes, his shirt was new and bright orange and there were huge letters across the chest. Could it be? I took off running around the church to cut him off. I looked and there was my little Broncos head right there on the front of the shirt. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to creep him out but it was hard to not sound like a giddy teenage girl. The conversation was slightly embarrassing as I tried to explain to him while pointing to the emblem how it was an American football team, my favorite one, and you couldn’t get these shirts anywhere in the States. I’ve been looking all over the world for it and would pay him whatever he wanted to have it. He laughed thinking this crazy white girl wants my shirt, how weird. He said a friend gave it to him so he couldn’t sell it. I told him I understood and watched him walk away. There it went…at least I’d seen it. After another encounter and a conversation with our host here about how I’d seen it and would love to find where the shirts were, I was making dinner in our kitchen when someone knocked on the door. My friend answered and I heard a man say something a girl here and a t-shirt. I stuck my head around the door and the man moved to the side and there he was. The man who I had chased down had found ME. He was holding the shirt. He explained how he didn’t know I was serious and he wanted me to have it. Are you kidding me?! I offered to pay him for it but he wouldn’t take the money. I told him I was going to buy him something in exchange for the shirt because he didn’t know how much this meant to me. The shirt I mentioned more than 10 months ago was just handed to me by a man in rural Swaziland. What?! God cares about the little things!
I’ve also been praying hard for fundraising and praise God I’m so close to being fully funded! I have a peace about it and know it’s all taken care of as all resources already belong to Him so He’s got it. Thank you SO much to all the people who have allowed God to use you in an incredible way. Praise Him! The little things again- He’s on it! 🙂
I know it’s hard to sometimes see or experience these things in the states because everything is so accessible. I’ve never really been in need or want something simple and have it be unreachable which unfortunately, I believe, inhibited me to see how big God really is. God is huge. He loves us more than we can even comprehend. There is always more of Him, and by Him bringing me into a new place of dependence He has allowed my attention to be drawn to the little things. Trust me He loves you so much and He cares about the little things.
