Okay so today marks Aug. 25th, which is 26 days since I stepped off a plane onto Colorado soil since September of 2012. I have been home for a little over 3 weeks. But here is when the story really began.
After returning to the states on July 30th, it was exactly 2 weeks when….
Wait. Hold up. Let me tell you the significance of 2 weeks.
2 weeks = 14 days
My grandpa always said the difference between a good and a bad haircut was 2 weeks.
2 weeks is about the time most people go on a summer mission’s trips.
On the Race, 2 weeks =
- Amount of time Team Ahava (my first Race team) painted a fence in Haiti
- Amount of time Team Ahava lived in a Thailand village close to the border of Burma
- Amount of time I taught English classes in Cambodia as well as homeschooled missionary kids
- Amount of time Team Doulos lived at Butterfly hostel in Malawi doing my favorite ministries
- Amount of time Team FreedomBound 3:17 ran Summer English Camp in Moldova with other racers
- Amount of time the WHOLE J-squad lived together in Ireland
Two weeks was a major time span while I lived around the world on the Race. Two weeks was the difference between Asia and Africa, or from living in a city or a village. Two weeks came fast and left even faster. The time span of 2 weeks didn’t stop playing a huge role in my life when I returned home though.
2 weeks at home meant that
you can take the girl out of the race but you can’t take the race out of the girl.
I arrived home on July 30th. I celebrated my birthday, greeted my family (my sister and brother-in-law from a different state), saw my boyfriend for the first time in a little less than a year, ate my long lost Chipotle, met my nephew for the first time in my life as he was close to one year old, and I breathed in clean, crisp Colorado air. Oh did I mention that was day one of being home.
The next 13 days passed by quicker than I could believe. To explain my first 2 weeks home from the race as hitting the ground running would probably be an understatement. I hit the ground sprinting…but it was truly God already running here, and I just hopped on His back. J
6 days after I stepped off the plane from the World Race, I found myself sitting at a “job interview” with sweating palms and nervousness overtaking me not knowing how I would answer some of the questions. To my surprise, I arrived to hear, “You will start on Monday. Can we show you your classroom?”
I wish I could have seen my face in that moment. I am sure my jaw dropped and my eyes doubled in size. Excuse me?! I haven’t even been home for one week from traveling the world and I already am offered a job.
Well, I took to my car for my hour drive back to my parent’s house and soaked in what was happening. I had a job. Wow! God provides. Wait…didn’t they say something about Monday was my start date? That is 7 days away….WHOA!
4 days after my interview I found myself back up in Greeley, Colorado driving up and down streets and avenues trying to find a place to live. Back and forth, nothing was available. I couldn’t find one single place that was available or that was suitable for one person on a budget. Crazy enough, God reminded me again that he was already running the race marked out for me as I returned from the World Race. I drove one more street and there was a sign. “Leasing Now! One and Two Rooms! Call Now!”
In 2 days, I applied for an apartment, was approved, needed to find a roommate, and found a roommate from MI. So soon after that I couch surfed for a week until my apartment opened up, signed the lease, and moved in.
When I look back on some of the crazy details, I wonder what God was thinking. I have this image that he had a checklist.
Job…check
House…check
Abandoned self…check
Lean on others for help….check
But lets get back to the time line. I am telling you about 2 weeks. So if you have been totally up all the numbers we are about at 2 weeks. As I began my couch surfing week, I also began sharing a car with my boyfriend for the next year and I also jumped feet first into being on staff with a Campus Ministry called Christian Challenge on the UNC campus in Greeley. And exactly at the two-week mark I was sitting at work for my first day of training to be a preschool teacher. 2 weeks were said and done.
As I sit here a little over one week since I started my job, I can’t even believe all that I went through. Some people ask me how reentry is going and I say I feel that I ran through the door and slammed it behind me. I can go days without thinking or talking about the Race, laying in my bed at night I have random thoughts of what life on the race was like. I remember the funny memories, the hard moments, and the Race culture.
But, like I said earlier, you can take the girl out of the race, but you can’t take the race out of the girl.
Since I have been home from the race I have experienced some very “Race” things. I thought some things would never happen when I came home, but they sure did.
Here are a few “Race” things that have encountered me since I have been home:
-I was given really great feedback from my Dad
-I jumped into a city with no housing or plans (Like my month of Romania)
-I have walked to find/use free Wifi
-I have had to depend on others for transportation
-I have slept on something other than a bed for more than one night
-I have eaten PB&J for lunch everyday
-I have witnessed two heals of my close loved ones.
And the list can go on…but I have forgotten many of them because they seem so natural to me. J
So, 2 weeks came and went and here I am. I used to call myself a traveling missionary on the World Race serving in 11 different countries. Now I call myself a traveling missionary stationed in Greeley, Colorado doing campus ministry and preschool teaching! Here is to God’s mighty plans! Lets go running, God!
