So this is our last day in Bangkok, Thailand and I’m trying to tie up some loose ends, that is if my computer will stop erasing my blogs! (There’s one thing I’ve learned on the Race… Satan even tries to screw with us by erasing blogs… he knows that blogging is a big deal in the Kingdom).
First off, Scott and I sent a couple packages out from the Bangkok post office (they’ll get to my parents house in a couple of months… we’ll be home before they are).
Next, we got our last Thai massage yesterday (2 hours long, and worth every penny, or baht, I should say).
We’ve finally taken two nights away from our team at a hotel. Unfortunately it’s the same hotel that the World Race is using to hold it’s debriefs so we’re constantly faced with other members of A, B, C, and the new D squad. The D squanders left on Sept 15th and have just finished their first month away from the States, and they keep walking up to us as if we’re celebrities. We’ll introduce ourselves and they’ll say, “yeah, I know who you are”. This is a bit of a strange experience.
Our new team, Lynette, Leah, Alissa, Amy, Rusty, Scott, and I held our first debrief together with Jerry Goode. We gave him all the contact information for our time in the Philippines. We told him how much we loved the contacts we made, how excited we are for teams going into the Philippines, and how great it was to be on a team that has so much grace for one another. I mean, we all have bad days. I like that I can have a bad day, and still have people like me the next day. I’m sure the rest of the team feels the same way. For this reason I’m ready to finish the race strong.
This is because we’ve recently found out that this team mixture will finish the Race together. We can sit together, debrief with each other, and talk about our expectations for one another, and still like eachother… yay! I know this group of girls is one that I’ll be keeping in contact with over time.
On a final note, there’s one last thing I need to do.
And that is…. Sign off.
That’s right, you read that right.
Sadly, when we arrive in China we’ll need to sign a “no blogging” form. So that’s it, all those hours of typing and picture taking, and it all boils down to a final month of NOTHING. Weird, huh? If you’ve followed me all year this blog seems somewhat anti-climactic.
I mean there are minimal parting thoughts, not much being imparted, and no pictures to show for all of it. All I can say is… go back and read my old blogs. There’s so much that I’ve learned this year, that putting all together into one blog wouldn’t do this year justice. There are so many places we’ve gone that putting in a few pictures wouldn’t show where I’ve really been this year.
From the dumps to the wonders of the world. From the Atlantic, to the Pacific and everything in between. And ending in one of the largest countries in the world. And what will I have to show for it. Well, I can tell you for sure, it won’t be blogging. And I won’t even be able to check to see that you’ve commented (as I can’t go to the world race website at all).
I know I’ll have pictures, and I have memories, as well as journal entries. But you won’t know any of it, until I get back to the States.
You can still contact me though. I will be able to communicate through email.
Even if you can email, you still have to be very careful with what you write to me. In fact, I’d hold off talking about Jesus or God. The Chinese government will be reading all my emails sent and received. I’ll be pretty vague about what I’m doing in China, or probably not tell you at all.
One thing is for sure… I’ll be back on American soil in 40 days. So even without blogging and receiving vague emails, you’ll at least know that I’ll be within reaching distance in a little over a month.
Again I want to thank all of my supporters. Without you, and your faithfulness, this life changing wild ride would not have been possible. I continue to pray blessings over your lives. As our future looks like we’ll be continuing on this path of missions, I encourage you to continue to support us through our Adventures in Missions account (at least for now). We may be going home to Boston for the holidays and for a time of “regrouping” and “alone time” (this only means that we won’t be living in 24/7 community like the World Race), but we’re pretty sure we’re called to go back out on the mission field shortly. We’ve already agreed to head to Swaziland for the summer of ‘08 to help with World Race training, so we’ll need the support.
Again, we’ve appreciated all of the support you’ve given us. We know that we live such an amazing life, and we have been thoroughly blessed and recognize how much you’ve given to make this happen! I know this life is charmed!
So with a little sadness, I’m signing off linneamolgard.theworldrace.org. I’ll be back in 40 days!
