Every now and then, you meet someone that you know you want to be around and there’s no real explanation to it. Other than the fact that Kimi is incredible and an amazing friend (both things I didn’t know yet when I met her), she was one of those people when I met her a little over two years ago. I never really had an explanation as to why I thought I wanted to be around her, she was just one of those people. Unfortunately, when Kimi and I left training camp for the World Race, we weren’t set to be on the same team. In fact, throughout the whole year and all the team changes, Kimi and I never once got to be on the same team. Even though we never had that chance to really have the team bonding, I can’t come to the LA area anymore without giving her a call.
Kimi and I got to go grab dinner tonight, and I can tell you, it pays to have friends that have real jobs; just a side note before I get into the real point. As our conversation unfolded, I found myself talking way more than usual. There were actually a few times where my mind told me to shut-up because I never talk that much. I’m always the one asking questions. But, I guess tonight just wasn’t one of those nights. I’ve always seen Kimi as one of my few good sisters, and I actually wanted to tell her what was going on, so I guess that explains the verbal diarrhea I had tonight (sorry for the word image). It was just nice to have someone that understands what I’m talking about across the table.
Despite some of my pointless ramblings, my favorite parts of the night were when she told me about her plans for the upcoming year. When she got home from the World Race last May, Kimi knew she needed to be around her family and work full time. The one thing she made clear to me during that time was that this was only for a season. A lot of people have said that and have ended up hanging around in that season a lot longer than intended. However, a few weeks ago I found out she was applying to seminaries, and just last week, she jumped on board to help lead a trip to the Dominican Republic this summer. She has fulfilled this season, and now it’s time to jump back out there again.
I believe seasons are very important for us. For a lot of people, they launch out into one of these periods that they don’t want to make into a career, but before they know it, they’re in so deep with no way out. I’ve seen countless friends from high school and college go down this road, and it breaks my heart sometimes. We have such a small view of the world, and going hand in hand with that, an even smaller view of God. By the grace of God, some great parents, and an incredible gift from influential people, I don’t have student loans to work off, or really any financial burdens tying me down. Even if I did, I just lived in the Philippines for three months for a little over $500 total. We make these huge financial commitments and then spend the rest of our lives working ourselves out of them, when there are other options we never allow into our thinking.
As I listened to Kimi and heard about her dreams to do life long ministry, while in the meantime starting a really sweet business idea (more to come later I’m sure), I was proud of her. It’s easy to get back into the working world and find the comfort there and continue to clock in the hours, especially when you can afford to take your bum friends out to dinner. But something within Kimi wants her to take the risk. Not just on traveling the world, she’s done that. But take the risk on herself. I always ask people, “Why not give yourself the chance to succeed? Or at least the chance to fail and have your answer?” Even if it does fail, it’s worth the risk, and sometimes, it just makes our dream bigger.
Some say that ignorance is bliss. But in this area, I have to say ignorance is death. If you never want to know if your dreams are worth it, then just stay asleep and punch the clock. The weird thing about life dreams is that you eventually have to wake up and pursue them to actually get a shot to live them.
One last unrelated thing… I just want to publicly wish Tara a happy birthday. She’s in Thailand, but will be home soon enough. She’s an incredible partner and I can’t wait to have her back around…
