Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

   Don’t you love that we are not static beings…we are constantly changing, developing, and hopefully growing more into the person we were created to be. My friend recently gave me a card that says, “Friends already see you as the person you long in your heart to be.” I love that idea, but even cooler is that God always sees us in this light as well. I am very hard on myself and often wish I were different than I am. I am encouraged in knowing that God doesn’t expect us to be perfect and is aware of the challenges we face. We were designed for a journey, a purpose, and for a relationship with him. We serve an intentional God. He never does things carelessly. Lyrics from that David Crowder song come to mind, “You make everything glorious, what does that make me?” I can’t wait to begin this journey with all of you, and to see the ways in which God is going to mold and transform us throughout this process…

A little about me~
   I am 29 years old and live in Thousand Oaks, CA. I have a wonderful little studio apartment that I love and have a great job teaching 22 adorable first graders. I grew up on the East coast, but moved out here to attend Pepperdine University. At the time, that was a huge deal. Moving 3,000 miles across the country, not knowing anyone…hmm…kind of similar to what I am about to do in September. As much as I love it here, I have prayed about moving closer to my family. I never thought I would stay out here, but the Lord had other plans for me. I graduated in 2002 and pretty much started teaching immediately after.         
  

                                                                
   I have a younger sister, Tess, whom I love dearly. She lives in Philly. Whenever we’re together we are pretty much attached at the hip. My uncle used to say that we had our own special language. If I knew there would be any available room in my backpack, I would be tempted to fold her up and take her along. Both of my parents live in Vermont, and I try to get back to see them whenever I can. It is a desire of my heart to live closer to them in the near future.

 

 
   Let’s see–what else? I cry easily. I am a light sleeper…definitely will be packing some earplugs! I love to learn new things…over the years I’ve signed up for: zumba, piano, guitar,sewing, swing, salsa, cooking (def. need all the help I can get in that department). I enjoy reading, hiking, and discovering new places. That’s one of the things I love about where I live…there are so many amazing places within driving distance. I’ve developed quite a sweet tooth and am pretty sure I am going to have withdrawals while out on the field. I love music, and singing…and almost any kind of dance. I often get hiccups when I eat bread…random but true. I frequently have very vivid dreams. The most disturbing and memorable ones have involved tsunamis. I swear I am going to go prematurely gray. I am daily disturbed by how many I am finding on this head of mine. I have to wear socks to bed, and hate being cold…thankfully I don’t think that is going to be a problem on the race.  

   I thought about other races, but I think it’s the teacher in me that wanted to sign up for the September race…new year, fresh start. I will also be celebrating my 30th en route, or while there. I liked the idea of starting a new decade/chapter of my life completely abandoned and surrendered to the Lord. I keep wondering when it is really going to hit me that I am actually doing this. I keep chanting out loud to myself, “I’m going, I’m going, I’m really really going!” hoping it will help. Yeah…not so much. Still feels surreal. I’ll keep you posted. For now…my comfy socks are on and that means bed time:) Good night friends.