This blog is waaaay overdue. And I’m so sorry.
Looking back I wish that I would have posted more on my blog during the last few months of my world race. I never actually posted a blog about my time in Zambia. (I worked at an orphanage in rural Northern Zambia, I would love to talk with you if you want to know more!) and I really wish I would have wrote a final blog sooner.
Everytime I sat down to write a blog about my world race after I was home, I never really got anywhere. I just sat and stared at the screen. There were some big questions that I felt like I needed to answer, and I wasn’t quite sure how to do that. I mean, how do you sum up an experience like that in a blog?
But when I decided on what God and I were going to do next, it didn’t feel right to share that without talking to you all about what God and I just did. Pretty soon I will reach out and share what’s next (I am so excited!!!) but right now I just want to share what’s long overdue. Maybe not answer some of the big questions here, thats still intimidating, but i will try my best to answer some of the smaller ones. Here it goes.
1) How was not wearing makeup for nine months?
if you read my blog “two months sober” then you know I went the whole race without wearing makeup. I was so serious about it I wouldn’t even wear face paint or tinted lip balm! I was so scared that I would break this commitment that I had made. The reasons behind it and the bulk of what I learned is in that first blog, but the next seven months Were full of learning it over, and over, and over again. When my face was covered in mosquito bites, when I chopped all of my hair off, when I looked in a mirror for the first time in two weeks, I struggled. but over and over again I found solace in the voice of the Lord.
At final debrief I wore makeup again, and it was a weird feeling. For one, I had forgotten what a pain it is to wash off each night. Two, I didn’t really feel that different. I expected it to. I expected to feel almost like a different person after so long! But i didnt… I just felt like Sydney, but with mascara and concealer. That was when it really hit me, a crap ton of makeup, or a face full of dirt and bug bites. I am the exact same person. And I love my face the way God made it. Do I love makeup? Yea. Do I (now) adore not wearing makeup? Yea! The difference is that I have a much more healthy view of myself and a much healthier view of makeup. And I don’t regret a single day on the race when I didn’t wear makeup.
2) How did your relationship with God change over the race?
Ok, so this is a big question, but a little easier to answer.
Trust me a minute, and just think about the story line in the song “Escape” you know the pina colada song. if you don’t know it, look it up on Spotify or YouTube.
I like to think of my relationship with God as a marriage. And like the couple in the song, I have loved God for so long, that it almost became a ”worn out recording of my favorite song” and I thought I was missing something. So I stared to chase it through the world race, this lifestyle, this adventurous, raw relationship with the Lord. But I ended up finding out that I had it all along. I wasn’t missing anything. A relationship with God is all about adventure! You don’t have to be traveling the world to find it. The adventure is about growing with Him, learning more about Him, and living is deep connection with Him.
I know that was probably the weirdest and most confusing way to explain it. But just know this. I am completely head over heels, completely in love with my God and Savior. I really am.
3) Did the world race change your view of the church?
over the course of the world race I got to experience church in a variety of ways in numerous settings, among very different cultures. I got to physically build church buildings and watch the church grow as more people made the decision to follow Christ. But what changed my view of the church the most was realizing that the church is the community that we were designed for. I came to a turning point. I was putting barriers between me and my christian community, without realizing why I was wrong. I came to a point where I decided tI change. And thank goodness I did, because I got to see the church come alive.
I learned that as believers, even as humans, we are designed for community. Can we live by ourselves? Technically yes. But I have grown to believe that we can survive, but never thrive alone. When we live in authentic community within the church, we we really get to thrive.
I idolized the “strong lone wolf” mentality too long, without realizing that wolves were specially designed to live in a pack, where their strength is multiplied Exponentially. And that’s pretty cool.
I wish I could find the words to answer every question that I have been asked. But hopefully this will give you a little window into how my experience was. So sorry that it took so long! I am actually surprised I was able to make it to the end this go around! Thank you so much for reading, and thank you even more for supporting me through the world race, and since I have been home. It means the world to me! I am excited to share some big news with you soon, but for now I am so happy to simply share a little bit about what impacted me this last year!
