Well guys?
We’re over the half way mark! In fact, we’ve exceeded $10,000 US! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support, prayers, love and donations!
Some updates:
Blessings – So many blessings. I’ve met up with another previous World Racer. Listening to her story and getting to know her has been a huge blessing. She’s been helping me plan before the race, giving things and ideas of things I should take, and has just been a great support in my different fundraising efforts. Thanking God very much for her!
Another blessing would be the Boston Pizza fundraiser I held on June 26th. We raised $500 in ticket sales and with other donations we raised a total of $800! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can not say it enough! The night was wonderful, a beautiful mixture of family, co-workers and church family. The pizza and pasta were delicious, so delicious in fact they had a hard time keeping the buffet stocked up! It was refreshing to catch up with everyone and know that these people support me in this journey. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
I had a unique opportunity this passed week to speak at my local churches mission circle. It was a beautiful time. I revisited with some friends I had made while doing the garage sale and also put some names to some faces that I had “met without meeting”. So many colourful personalities gathered together for a common purpose: to support missionaries all around the world. There’s no hiding the truth here; this was a daunting task for me. But I was granted such peace. It was as if the Lord said “No” to my fear. He put me right at ease. I left that place feeling that the Lord had been glorified. And it felt good. Thank you, God for these people and opportunities you have blessed me with.
Big News: we have surpassed not only the first deadline well ahead of its time, but now officially the second. We have officially reached $11,523 US as of today (July 16th) well ahead of the deadline (August 16th)! Thank you to all my supporters and huge thank you to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for the grace, mercy and favour he shows me every step of this journey although I do not deserve it.
Packing – I have not made much progress in this area. Recent expenses have eaten up any funds that would go towards the clothes and toiletries I hoping to buy. But God is faithful. This does not surprise him and he will provide what I need. That however does not mean that I will stop looking for sales! If you see a good sale on women’s clothing or toiletries, please let me know! 
Here are some of the items I’m looking for:
- External Hard drive (in case my laptop crashes on the Race)
- Shorts and Skirts (preferably both knee length or lower)
- Sun dresses
- Summer shirts
- Travel size shampoo, conditioner and body wash
- Febreeze (for clothes or my bag when things start to smell nasty.. lol)
These are only a few items that I can remember off the top of my head. (I can post more if people are interested!)
Planning – I have finalized the design for my t-shirts!
Here it is:
Let me know if you would like some!
I’m also planning to sell some bracelets that have very graciously been donated to me by an alumni racer! (Special thank you to her). I’ll be posting more about that in the future!
The biggest focus of planning is for training camp which is on August 10, less than a month away. Unbelievable how fast days are flying by!
Personal – Physically, I am doing well. I’ve tested again my ability to complete the physical test for training camp (3 miles in 50 minutes) and have had excellent results without a pack on. The next step is to get my gear together and walk with it.
Mentally, emotionally and spiritually I am doing okay. This past month has been a struggle, but within the last week things have been turning around. You many not have noticed, but I didn’t post a blog last month. That is because of time-management and also some struggle on my part. The Lord has been gently forcing me to see areas of fear that I have been harbouring, some for a long time. He’s been walking me through accepting that I have such fears (pride), giving them over to him (surrender) and trusting him with the outcome. It has been hard, but He is such a good God.
One of my Aunt’s once said to me, that when in a serious relationship (for example, recently marrying), the first 5 years are the hardest. After that, things get a bit easier. (Not easy, but easier). I’ve got to wonder if it is the same with our relationship with the Lord. The first year together, you are on cloud nine, ready to take on the world but then unexpected road bumps shake things up. Misconceptions come to light, unrealistic expectations need to be dealt with. Then the hard times set in. Disillusionment, reality, things not going as planned, life getting busy all pull people away from their partners. I feel the same is true with my relationship with my First Love. With some differences, of course. The problem is never Him, but me. (And that can be a hard pill to swallow). With a spouse, sometimes you have alone time; with our Father, this is not true. Secrets can be kept from a spouse; again, not true with our Lord. These differences are the very things I avoided/forgot/were to busy to think about. And they were the very things I needed to hear. But, the awesome thing is that our God does not let us go. When I despairingly asked Him, “What was wrong? Where did I go wrong?” He very faithfully showed me (maybe a bit slower than I would have liked, but for my best). I was seeing Him wrongly. I am happy to announce that this is almost year four together with my Lord, and I believe we are on the edges of the disillusionment era and moving into the “taking time to cultivate a healthy relationship” portion of this journey He and I are on. Love, I’ve learned, is not an emotion but an action. Emotions follow action.
Verses Speaking to my Heart – I’m still reading through Matthew, the Psalms and Romans, but the verse that is speaking to my heart would be Jeremiah 17:7,8
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tress planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Prayer Requests – Thank you for all of your prayers. I appreciate all of them. Please pray that my heart would not grow cold against the help of others on this trip, that distractions when they come would be seen through, that money for vaccinations next month would come in, and that peace would reign over fear.
Thank you again for all your love!
I’ll be posting more soon!
