A few days ago marked our halfway mark on the race. I started reminiscing with my team of the good and the bad of the last 5 1/2 months.
Pond Showering
Snorkeling in the DR
Getting my first tattoo
Playing soccer with children in Moca
Building a conference center in Haiti
World Race Prom
“The Nest” we made on top of the roof in Haiti
Singing Beyonce on top of the roof for everyone to see
Hugging the sweetest orphans in Honduras
Playing “what’s in my mouth”
Drinking the most delicious coffee and eating the best tacos I’ve ever had.
Wrapping my teammates like a burrito in their sheets and pushing them off the bed in Guatemala.
Evangelizing and prophesying for the first time
Seeing a man healed
Singing Shakira with children in a village
Teaching the Too-Te-Tah to hundreds of Zambian children
Bungee jumping, zip lining, and gorge swinging
Long travel days
Hot days
Sweat for days
Injuries
Sicknesses
Parasites
Beautiful scenery
And I think of all the emotional and spiritual things I’ve gone through.
Fundraising on the other side of the world.
Feeling insecure and unwanted
Not knowing who I am
Trying to find my purpose
Dealing with comparison and my past
Sorting through spiritual matters and what I believe
Grieving over the loss of one of my favorite professors and good friends.
Breakdowns
Incredibly high Jesus moments
Hearing Jesus for the first time and continuing to hear him
And I look at these things, what I’ve done, what I’ve been through, and how much I’ve grown and changed and it makes me feel incredibly satisfied. I’ve genuinely lived life to the fullest these last 5 1/2 months. I’ve enjoyed my good moments and fought through the hard ones.
But I look at the next 5 1/2 months now feeling a little overwhelmed at the amount of growth I can continue to have, the amazing things I’ll encounter, and the difficult things I’ll have to walk through. I know how crazy these first 5 1/2 months were and while I’m excited for the next half, I’m a little overwhelmed. Knowing I’ll be completely different at the end of the race than I am now is refreshing and exciting, but daunting knowing the crap I had to sort through to get here.
I had some sort of idea that I would learn a lot and then coast the rest of the way, but God continued to reveal stuff to me every month and it’s just as deep and important as the last month.
All this to say, I’m loving the race now more than ever. I’ve made life-long friends. I have no regrets. And I’m still on fire and just as passionate about the race as I was at the start. It’s better than I could have ever imagined and my life is forever changed.
Fundraising update: I only have $850 ish dollars left to raise by January 1st! Praise The Lord!!! If you want to give, all donations are tax deductible and can be made on the left side of my blog page.
Also, other members on my team are needing support as well if you want to check out their blogs, they’re all amazing people.
Alexakwiatkowski.theworldrace.org $1800 left to raise
Mattcarlson.theworldrace.org
$3700 left to raise
Pauldiffee.theworldrace.org
Kaylavanes.theworldrace.org
$3500 left to raise
Chrisstepp.theworldrace.org
$2000 left to raise
Thank you so much!
Sent from my iPhone
