Now that I’ve been home for a little over a month, I’ve had to start thinking about what comes next for me post Race. The Race was a time of incredible growth for me; I was challenged and put outside of my comfort zone in so many ways. Being home has also been really good–I’ve been reunited with my family and some old friends, and I’ve already gotten to hike the Rocky Mountains again!
But as more time passes, I realize that I can’t do the life that I did before the World Race. I need more of His Spirit in my life, and I can’t just eat, work, sleep, and have little to no community.
On the Race I was challenged with the question, “what do you love doing?” Me not having a quick response to that question made me scared, and I felt like I had no vision or desires other than “someday I’ll do something overseas.”
After praying more into this question, and doing a lot of thinking and writing, I began to have different things come to mind. I’ve realized that I love hiking and being in His creation–though that doesn’t mean I’m a hiking pro–and that I actually do enjoy welding (yes, I had to think about whether or not I liked welding).
Hiking! Man there’s so many opportunities to do that in Colorado! Perfect! Kind of.
I’ve been thankful and excited that the Lord has revealed specific practical desires in my heart, like welding and hiking, but He’s also done a bit more than just that. I recently have acquired a girlfriend! And we are both moving to the Seattle area! So there’s that.
She has felt called to live in the Seattle area for a number of years, and I was born there and have nothing tying me down to Colorado, so I said why not do this? Pot is also legal in Washington–like Colorado–so that was a huge reason why I was fine with moving. Joking, totally joking.
In Seattle, I am looking to get a welding job–if anyone has any connections please let me know–look into different hiking ministries, invest in a church, and just do life there! That written down makes the transition to Washington sound really simple, but I know that it will be really challenging at times, so prayers are appreciated!
But yeah, that’s basically it. This is my last post, so thanks everyone so much for following me on my journey, and praying and financially supporting me. I can hardly believe that it’s over, or that it even happened. It was July 4th of 2013 that I was flying to Turkey to drive to Albania to start month 1. Crazy. I am so blessed.
If you are in Colorado, and you’d like to hear more about my trip, you should come to my wrap up of the Race! It’s July 20th at 7pm in the youth room at Calvary Church Longmont. I’ll leave you with these prayer requests:
- That I would spend my last month here in Colorado well (pressing into Him and important relationships)
- That I would get plugged in to a great community and church in Seattle
- That the Lord would provide a more permanent place to stay and a job once I move
- And maybe most importantly, that I would continue to walk forward with open hands completely surrendered to Him–that I would just trust Him as He reveals the next step.
Also, here’s some before and after pictures and another awesome video my teammate Owen made about our entire World Race journey. Check it. I should’ve tried to redo the same pose and everything in the “after” picture, but I didn’t. Peath out.
