I’ve been traveling all year. Since January 1st I’ve been on the road. I started in York Pennsylvania and headed to Atlanta GA with a group from my church for the passion conference. From there I went back to PA for about 12 hours before I headed back to Atlanta to start the world race. Leaving my home town meant saying a lot of goodbye’s. To friends, my mom and step dad, my siblings and the rest of my family. Honestly it sucked.
But the goodbye’s didn’t stop there.
Let me let you in on something. The world race indeed is as amazing as it looks! But it’s not all butterflies and rainbows. Some nights I cry myself to sleep because of the pain I see in people’s eyes. Some nights I lay awake questioning the Lord and His plan.
But every month, I pack up all my stuff, I travel for a few days, finally get to my destination as tired as can be, I adjust to a new location, build relationships, make memories and in 3 short weeks I repeat that cycle.
Not every month is an incredibly hard goodbye but most months I leave a piece of my heart somewhere or with someone that I have loved on or grown attached to. The hardest months for me to leave so far have been Vietnam, Cambodia and now Albania.
In Vietnam I made friends with other Vietnamese students around my age. We hung out together, I taught them english, listened to their stories, told them mine, made memories and told them about the love of Jesus. When the month was over my friends Jake and Jackie road with us to the bus station to see us off. Jake asked one of us to ride on his motorbike with him one more time but it was pouring down rain. But I knew it would mean a lot to him and be forever a fun memory. So I climbed on the back of his motor bike, his rain poncho was large enough to cover both of us for the most part so I got underneath and we rode to the bus station. He thanked me for being his friend and for all the memories. When the ride was over I was soaking wet, my clothes, my hair and even my face but my face was wet from tears. I would miss the friends and memories I made. I would miss the stories and the ability to share with them. The hard conversations and difficult questions they would ask. But even still, I had to get on that bus and drive away. And when I did, a piece of my heart stayed in Nha Trang Vietnam.
In Cambodia we worked with an organization that rescued girls and boys that were high at risk for being sold into the sex industry in order to make a living for their families. My heart ached for them. I made little friends that month, some reminded me of my siblings in different ways. We hung out every day. Dancing in their living room, taking pictures, coloring, playing games, playing on the play ground, doing make up, watching movies and so much more! Those kids stole my heart. On our last night, the kids laid their hands on myself and my teammates and prayed for us. I sobbed. Afterwards, we gathered around the kids and laid hands on them and prayed for them. I remember praying that they would love and serve Jesus in the most incredible ways. I prayed that the Lord would protect them from heartbreak. I prayed that they would find family in the people around them and remember that they had family all over the world in us and other racers that they had met. I prayed for their joy to never fade and to always come from the Lord. And then I had to walk away. I had to give them one more hug, wave goodbye and walk out the door. I remember going back to my room that night and sobbing. I couldn’t get it under control, so I cried until I fell asleep. And the next morning when we drove away, I left another piece of my heart in a little village in Cambodia.
This month we worked with a church in Albania. We put on VBS, a women’s and children’s program called Beauty For Ashes, painted a kindergarten and hung out with the neighborhood kids. Those kids stole my heart from the very first night! I spent countless nights staying up a little late listening to music and dancing with the kids. My friend Janibel and I bought them ice cream and went on walks with them. We had a blast! The little town we stayed in was perfect. A little stand right next to our place that sold what we call either sausage sammies or sausage bread. It’s literally a roll with sausages on it. It’s amazing and cost about $.50. We had those for lunch and breakfast so much! There’s a coffee shop down the street that we had teamtime at, I did a lot of video editing and devotions there, and right next door is a creperie that had so many different crepes including Nutella!(my personal favorite.) The town, the people, the kids, the church….all stole my heart and I wish it wasn’t over. But it is. So today I got on a bus and as it drove away I left another piece of my heart in Kombinat Albania.
Yesterday I packed my things up and today I got on a bus to leave, I said some goodbye’s and cried. Today we are going to Montenegro for two days to just hang out and relax. Afterwards we will pack up again and go to debrief in Macedonia, then after a few days of debrief we will pack up again and leave for our ministry.
It’s hard to say goodbye so often and I don’t think it will get any easier. But I’m thankful.
“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so difficult.” It’s so true. I’m blessed by you all that helped me get here. I’m blessed by the people I’ve met along the way and I’m blessed by the goodbye’s.
Goodbye Albania! As long as it’s up to me, I’ll be back. Until next time….
