I’ve seen a million posts about how hard transitioning from the World Race back to life in America can be. I have to admit that it hasn’t always been easy. Some days are harder than others. Most days are just a blur. To give you a little insight into my brain, here are some thoughts I had over the course of my first two days alone traveling in Arizona.
- What do I do with this toilet paper?
- If I put this popcorn on the floor will the ants get it?
- Am I driving on the right side of the road?
- Is three coffees too many?
- I just saw my breath for the first time in seven months
- Pitch Perfect 2 quotes make me feel things
- “you’re going to miss me when I’m gone”
- “your team is everything”
- I just turned on the heater in my hotel room.
- I considered picking up the chap stick someone dropped on the stairs, it’s good chap stick.
- I remembered today that I used to go whole days without talking to another human being before the Race.
- The drawstring on my new pants looks like one of those wide fried noodles. Now I want pad Thai.
- Surely I’ve gotten a parasite from all the water I’ve drank from the sink.
- I keep thinking someone’s going to break into my rental, since when did I become so paranoid?
- I just chose to eat oatmeal for breakfast.
- Even though I was sitting at a table for four and breakfast was very busy, nobody asked to join me.
- I have to retrain myself not to touch my face.
- I deliberately drove with no heat until my hands were numb.
- I went into a tourist store. Where am I?
- No one goes to the grand canyon alone.
- I feel at home at the grand canyon because so many speak different languages.
- There’s a Carl Sandburg quote on the wall of the grand canyon visitors center.
- I cry at wonders.
- There are many people in the Grand Canyon video wearing chacos.
- All the cars here are so quiet.
- There’s a Same Same shirt on rim trail.
- Dirty bathroom? Bring it on! I once peed while standing in a half inch of sewage.
- There’s not a single bottle of water in this whole store. I refuse to drink anything else. Vitamin water will have to do.
- I considered peeing in the bushes at the grand canyon.
- I can go wherever I want, including this educational movie.
- I couldn’t choose just one thing from the menu, so I just chose the first thing without eggs.
- I can’t even eat a cup of soup and a whole sandwich….
Some of these thoughts may not make any sense to you and others are pretty clear. I hope you can glean some understanding as to where I have been mentally over the past month.
I couldn’t let this blog pass by without mentioning my plans for the future. It’s hard to call them future plans as I spend my days renting trucks and preparing to make financial decisions.
As of July 1st, I will be the full time pastor of two churches in the Kankakee, IL area, Kankakee Trinity United Methodist Church and Bradley Evangelical United Methodist Church. Thank you for all you prayers and support. This next step in my journey with God is very exciting and I can’t wait to share this all with you!
