How is this possible? Yesterday marked the 150th day that I’ve been on the World Race. I’m nearing the halfway point and it feels surreal that moving around multiple times a month, living out of a large pack, and wearing the same four shirts and two pants for nearly six months is somehow normal now. God continues to amaze and overwhelm me by the gifts He gives me and the things He does in and through me for His glory and the sake of His Kingdom. Here is my next list of 50!
1. I would go to a hot springs
2. Indonesians LOVE selfies
3. I would meet a 21-year-old gal who just opened her own cupcake shop after having the idea just two weeks prior to opening
4. Our squad content manager would come with us for two weeks in Indonesia and we’d get to celebrate her birthday with her! (complete with homemade cupcakes and a photo shoot)
5. I would try mussels!
6. You have to pay to use a public restroom which doesn’t supply tp or soap
7. That “highlighting” my hair got translated to mean bleaching it in Indonesia
8. A week later I would dye my bleached hair purple 🙂
9. I would teach English to 14-16-year-olds in a technical school in Indonesia
10. God would speak to me through music in a 6-hour bus ride in the rain
11. Go to a fish spa (for your feet!)
12. Got my first full body, two-hour massage for less than $12!
13. God would continue the healing process of my heart in Indonesia that He gave me a vision of in Rwanda as I struggled with the reality of an impending team change
14. God would change my heart to anticipate and look forward to a team change
15. Cary would move to my new team with me! (I’m so thankful for her!)
16. I would travel into Thailand with my new team, spending two nights on 14+ hour trains rides from Penang, Malaysia to Chiang Mai, Thailand
17. I would sleep on the train floor, in 3rd class, with no AC, and get a bruised hip
18. I would travel all that distance (1,000+ miles) for less than $15!
19. God would use my team and I to have impromptu church on the top of Starbucks
20. I’d get my teeth cleaned in Thailand for just $15 🙂
21. I’d fall in love with international churches
22. Go to IHOP in Penang, Malaysia
23. Learn to use chopsticks and prefer them over a fork and spoon!
24. Join the club of losing my water bottle (left it on a bus)
25. Spend an afternoon with elephants
26. Learn again that only God satisfies by spending a day with elephants
27. I would have to leave a teammate in Indonesia because she couldn’t come back to Malaysia due to visa complications
28. Say good-bye to a new teammate after a month (she joined the Race for just two months on Exposure)
29. God would challenge my views of femininity
30. God would call my team and I to a fast
31. God would sustain me on the fast and I rarely felt hungry which was all Him!
32. My team would prayer walk a busy street in the Red Light district, once a day for six days and seven times on day seven
33. God would gift me two beautiful sunsets while we worshiped on the beach
34. See a teammate be baptized
35. Enjoy an afternoon at an old cemetery (1800s)
36. Tour a chocolate factory
37. We would have to say good-bye to our stellar squad leaders and SCM but welcome qualified squadmates into those roles!
38. I would help lead worship in a joint worship night with R-squad
39. I would travel to Bandung, Indonesia (an extra country) and a month later have a teammate who is from there
40. God would humble me in many ways in a short period of time (thank You for not leaving me as I am, Lord!)
41. 1 Corinthians 13, but not vs. 4-7 this time…
42. I would see new faces of the moon each month
43. Witness a new friend come to Christ, see him baptized, and share in communion – a life changed: MIRACLE!!
44. There are seasons in all of life, including spiritually, and praise God that after winter comes spring
45. When God is silent, it does not mean He is absent
46. Fear of man is too deeply rooted in me
47. I am working towards fear of God being greater than my fear of man
48. God would use music lyrics repeatedly to speak truths over me and allow them to sink deep into my soul
49. God would allow my life story to be relatable
50. God doesn’t ask me to change myself, but rather asks me to commit myself to Him and trust that He will do the transforming work within me
You don’t need to travel the world or live out of a backpack in order for God to speak to you. He is with you right where you are. What have learned in the past 50 days? Share it with someone.
