Weeks ago, when I was at my parents' house recovering from my ankle surgery where they put 8 screws and 2 pins into my leg, I went through a period of doubt.
I doubted that I was supposed to go on the race in September. My family and friends advised me to take the time to heal and go on the January 2013 route. It made sense. By January my ankle would be fully healed and there would be nothing holding me back from walking around and traveling from country to country carrying a 60 liter backpack on my back. I was torn. I wanted so bad to be with my L squad, 60-some beautiful men and women who stole my heart at training camp, and to be with Fire Starters, my immediate new family of seven whom I get to serve and live life with daily. But my emotions went on overdrive based on all the up and down circumstances that followed training camp, and I didn't know how fast I'd recover from surgery to go on the race in time.
I was cutting it close, my leg and ankle cocooned in a cast that put my body on still mode but my mind racing with a million thoughts a minute. I was fearful that my self-sufficiency has been taken away and I wouldn't have it back until likely the third month into my race, even if I got to go.
One August morning, I woke up to check my email and one particular subject line in my inbox caught my eye, it says:
Get bold and go Guatemala…
God certainly speaks to me in creative ways, this time, using an advertising email subject line from an interior designer, to say that I'm meant to go on this specific route of the race at this specific time. Guatemala is the goal and when I can see the goal, I can work towards it.
If I had any doubt before, it's now disappeared completely. Seeing these words I felt a new level of conviction to step out in boldness and get ready to go on the September route with L squad.
So in the next weeks, God continued to elevate me as I sat and elevated my leg, He spoke to me using two phrases: "Don't worry." and "Keep moving forward." So I did. He gave me the strength to gather friends and family to help me fundraise over six thousand dollars in just a few short weeks, move stuff out of my SF apartment, packed my bags, and get ready to launch out for 11 months. God came to me in the midst of my inadequacies and gave me more than enough help in every situation.
My team and our parents at launch in Chicago.
So here I am, a week into the race and sitting in the livingroom of Agape in Action, where the entire L Squad is staying for the month. My ankle is now in a walking boot and I'm able to bare partial weight on my right foot these days. Because of my insufficiency, I've been learning a deeper level of dependency on the body of Christ and learning to ask for help. This is the first time I lived in community with a large group of people since my college sorority days. And these aren't just ordinary people. They are men and women that have something special on each of them. I noticed that at training camp in Georgia, at launch in Chicago, and during our travel day from Chicago to Miami to Guatemala City. No one ever complained of hunger when we were starving, of tiredness when we were exhausted, and of hard work when someone asked for a helping hand.
Everyday, someone on my team or squad offers to carry my bag, wash my dishes, bring me lunch or dinner, and make sure I am icing my ankle and not walking on it too much. This only child now has 62+ siblings for the entire month, whole year and possibly a lifetime. Alone time and not having anyone to talk to is a thing of the past.
Team Fire Starters women, my four new sisters!
I want to thank you, my family and friends back in the US for sending me out. It's because of your friendship, love, prayers and support that I am now here and I am now healing. Crutching around Guatemala makes me feel closer than ever to those that are weak, sick and in need. I can't wait to wake up everyday to love on those that God brings to my path here in Quiche, Guatemala City, and Antigua.
"And all the believers met together in one place and shared everyting they had." – Acts 2:44
