I’ve been avoiding doing this…it’s hard, I feel overwhelmed with all that God has done this past year and I feel as though I have no words to give other than it was a truly life changing, unique, and challenging year. What an experience….so rather than avoid processing like I’ve been doing for the past few weeks…I’ve decided to just JUMP IN and just DO IT…just start writing, start putting words on a page and see what picture God creates from it all. I apologize if it’s a bit random and messy but I’m trusting that as I process out loud that God will begin to clarify what He wants to say to my heart as well as to all of you who end up reading this page…..He’s the one truly painting the beautiful picture out of my life’s messiness…..so here it goes 🙂
my fav’ little man Elijah in NY
I’ve been home for about a month now back in America. I initially spent some time with a close friend and mentor in NY and then traveled down to Florida to visit my younger brother and retrieve my car (which he’d been driving all year).
Side note: so funny story- my close friend Mallorie traveled to FL with me to get my car, we flew down and drove my car back up to Ohio. On the way home we had a few crazy experiences. In Kentucky on the highway my front right tire BLEW OUT. So we thought okay no problem…we’ll change the tire and be on our way, well we got the spare on no problem and lowered the car back down….realizing quickly that THE SPARE WAS FLAT TOO!
Soooo by this time we’re feeling a bit frustrated and out of ideas, just about this time a VERY NICE black shiny expensive camero drives up with a license plate that reads “BLCKPEPPR'” and a very large football player type of man steps out of the car. He offers to help us and we explain the situation…
long story short he ends up driving us to WalMart, buys us bottled water and takes very good care of us, so we now have a guardian angel named “black pepper” which honestly is just super cool.
So you might think…alright good story get to the point…well the story is not over.
So we by this time have gotten pretty shaken up, even though Black Pepper ended up being very nice we were very scared to be by ourselves and receiving help from a complete stranger. It was an exhausting and nerve wracking experience. We get back on the road and honestly not 10 miles down we feel the RIGHT front tire BLOW OUT on the highway….
ok miracle that we were in the right lane and that there was no traffic!
So now we have no spare tire and another flat tire and no more black pepper to help us out. Mallorie decides to try and call AAA even though it was not her car we were driving and they were kind enough to send a tow truck to help us out anyway. So all worked out in the end.
A few other mishaps happened along the way as well and our intended 11 hour drive turned into a 15 hour story we will be telling our grandchildren someday!
I say all this to say that its been quite an interesting journey being back in America, at times like the one just described it felt like another day on The Race. I was in completely unpredictable situations which caused my faith to be stretched (reminded me of the time our jeep in Kenya ran out of gas 3 times in one day!)
As I am readjusting to life in America I’m realizing that I truly am different now than i was before I left. My faith has been grown, my experiences have been expanded, my testimonies are many, and my love of Jesus is intense. I am praying that as I transition back home that I am still able to live with a Kingdom mindset and not loose perspective of what God has for Ashland, Ohio.
I know that the Lord has called me to be in this town for this next season, however long that ends up being. I know that I’m a vessel he wants to use to Ashland for His GOOD. I know I’m supposed to share testimonies so that I’m constantly reminded of what He’s done and therefore my faith and others’ faith can be multiplied. I know I’m supposed to take it easy and rest, give myself a break since its been an amazing but exhausting year.
In order to remember as well as process all that God did this past year. I will be blogging every week at least once a week. Next week I think I will begin thinking back to Month 1 on The Race and reflecting all that God did in and through me in Manila, Philippines!
Thanks again everyone who has so diligently followed my crazy travels this year, I hope that you’ll continue to pray with me as I transition at home, and that you’ll continue reading this blog and be challenged by the things I’m learning in this awesome new season in Ashland, Ohio.
Me at the St. Augustine Lighthouse
Mal and I loving FL
