Amazing Race 2019. How did it all begin? Well, it started with a phone call…
“Jenny, what should we do…”
It was a phone call from Vicky to say that because of some miscommunications we had no organizer for the Amazing Race which had been announced to Full Life the day before!
Rewind a few weeks back when the idea for this had been slowly growing amongst the leaders. In my heart, I could sense that I would end up organizing it but to be honest, I really didn’t want to do it and there was such a great burden within me. So when I heard someone else would be in charge I breathed a huge sigh of relief... But I guess God had different plans.
There are so many moments in our lives where we can be tempted to judge others for the disruptions they seem to bring into our lives but sometimes God uses these disruptions to bring us into something much greater than ourselves. After a few minutes of the call, I responded with
*takes a deep breath* “I’ll do it”
To be honest, I really didn’t want to do it, I could already feel the anxiety welling up at the idea of organizing an event, let alone an event for 80 people. Where was I going to begin? Looking back at it all now I realized God gifts us the ability to do some pretty amazing things but fear often stops us from stepping into the plans God has for us. This was one of those moments where God took me out of my little comfortable corner and threw me in the deep end. Literally…
So here I was, zero experience in organizing an amazing race, never having attended one in my life and the only reference I had was the tv show which pays for people to fly around the world… which for sure we didn’t have the funds to do… neither was it practical.
Have faith. Throughout the weeks leading up to the event, I could not help but give glory to God as things happened much more smoothly than I could ever have possibly imagined. People were putting their hands up left, right and center to help in organizing, facilitating and brainstorming for the event. I was blown away by the willingness of my fellow brothers and sisters of Christ.
But one thing kept nagging at the back of my mind. What was the purpose of all of this? Was what we were doing edifying God? How could this be of benefit to the Kingdom of God? I had so many questions.
So I prayed.
I didn’t get an answer right away but as the days went by the reason for it starting becoming clearer. On the day of the event, almost nothing went to plan as smoothly as we had planned or organized. It rained, it was hot, some people could not make it, others slept in, and still, others joined at the very last minute.
BUT despite all of this, the event was a HUGE success! Everyone had so much fun even the organizers had great stories to tell. Full Life was getting out of their comfortable bubble interacting with each other, being silly and even approaching complete strangers for the event.
The Amazing Race was a fun challenge for all of us not only those who participated but for the organizers as well. There were a billion other things that we could have been doing that day. Enjoying a nice comfortable relaxing day by the beach or watching a movie or even spending time with family but we all ended up here with one another, our common thread being that we love God and we love Jesus who died for our sins so that we might be saved.
So what was the purpose of all of this? My last challenge to you for the Amazing Race 2019 is what do you think?😊
