Map out your future, but do it in pencil. . . . . .
What’s next?
Why is that a natural question for us, you graduate high school people ask, what’s next? You get a new job or you move to a new place, what’s next? You travel around the world and you are only 6 months in and you get asked “What are you going to do after the race…”
I am not mad when people ask me this, we are curious by nature. To be honest, when I am asked it makes me laugh and cringe at the same time. I have no idea what I am doing after the race, yes, I trust that if I step forward in faith that the Lord will provide but I don’t have a plan. I have so many options, I could go back to school, I could work at REI, I could nanny… I could do all three at once! That’s a blessing in itself, to say that I have options is huge. Many people I have met on this trip don’t have any options, they have to do what they are doing, they can’t travel around the world for a year, change jobs, or just spend time with their friends and family. I’m insanely blessed to be an American, to be free of persecution, to be free of slavery, to be able to go college or to just get a job that I can say I love doing. It reminds me to think about all the things I don’t want to take for granted when I come home.
I’ve been wrestling with this question of what I’m doing when I get home and the debate that I should be present and not plan after the race. Now I understand where all the thoughts come together, that if I’m obsessing over what is going on after that I won’t be present with what is going on now. On the other hand, I need to be smart about my future; I can’t just expect to get home and have everything fall into place. I have been praying for what is to come, for the countries we will be stepping into and the opportunities that we will get to experience, What life after the race will look like and that I continue to have peace about what is to come. In that I have come to what I believe is a conclusion, I don’t think that the Lord gave us options and ideas just for us to ignore them. I think that in order to step into faith with him, we actually have to step forward. No I don’t think that freaking out and obsessing over the details of the future is what we are called to do, but I do believe that we are supposed to plan. In that planning, we are stepping forward in the direction that we believe the Lord is calling us to, only then can He change our direction. He calls us to understand that those plans aren’t solid, that at any moment they could change; but first you have to step forward.
In that, I am asking y’all, to first pray for me and for what is to come and that the Lord would be clear in the door he wants me to step into. Second I would love for y’all to keep an eye out for any house sitting or dog sitting or yard work or potential babysitting. As when I first get home around August 23rd I don’t want to jump back into a full-time job. I really want to be able to spend quality time with my friends and family and make intentional quality time with them. I also can’t just expect to come home with 5 dollars to my name and expect anyone to just pay for everything I need. If you do have any ideas of short term or part time jobs that I could be a blessing to, I would be more than grateful for the info! I know that the Lord is going to use me in so many ways when I get home. In all honesty, I do feel like I belong in Washington just not sure where, when it comes to living, working, and adventuring.
