As I sit here to write this blog (not for the first time either) I am sad. I am sorry it’s been a while. My heart has longed to catch you up on my life. I have struggled writing this because the reality of me no longer being in Nepal means that this race thing is nearly through. And just as excited I am to be home I am sad at the thought of leaving.
But even so, time will still move whether or not I write about it so here goes nothing!
Over a month ago we said goodbye to our lovely ministry hosts and their family. We cleaned up our cute home on the fourth floor, packed up all our belongings and I saw some of my favorite moths of the race in the rearview mirror of a taxi.
A billion hours of travel later we ended up in Nicaragua! And wow the time difference was hard to adjust to (seriously 11 hours and 45 minutes is a lot of time to be off). I sat on a couch wearing a skirt & sandals, sipping smoothie and gazing up at the palm trees over head. It finally felt like the summer after an eternity of winter.
Sometime when we were in Nica we had team changes. I was so sad to say goodbye to my favorite ladies that I had been living life with for the past 7 months (actually, sad is a bit of an understatement. But I’ll spare you the tears) (my tears) But it was an incredible opportunity for growth and to get to know and be sisters with more people on my squad.
*bright side* we are “all squad” for the rest of the race. So all 39 of us are at the AIM base & I still see my ladies around 🙂
So now I am a member of team Fuego (fire in Spanish)
I am doing ministry and sharing a room with: Natalie Haynes, Emma Dollyhigh, Ana Walker, Abby Cegloski, Grace Tobin, & Audrey Baughn.
I could write all day about seeing my parents again for the first time in 7 months. About running and wrapping my arms around my mom & dad. The people who love me endlessly and have supported me so well while I’ve been gone for so so long. I finally got to invite them to (an extremely beautiful) glimpse of the World Race. I woke up with the sun and got to drink coffee and eat a scrumptious breakfast of pinto gallo and mountains of fresh pineapple & watermelon with my parents. I loved getting to show them around through my pictures of the race and showing them around the small city of Granada that I had only known a couple days before them.
It was a time, precious to me to look back on now in my second month of living in Guatemala.
It’s funny though, all these countries and Central America is still the place my heart feels most at home, most at peace. It’s too good to be back again finally. My living conditions are nothing short of luxurious 4 bunk beds in a room with our own bathroom and amazing showers with plenty of hot water. I don’t know what I did to deserve this.
Ministry is changing for us but for the last month me and my team have helped create a curriculum and fun things to help kids learn English! These are kids who require a basic understanding of English to get into school so were basically preparing them to pass that test. And it has been so so fun getting to play me learn with them. As we are teaching them English they are teaching us Spanish! My teammate Abby has been translating mostly for us and sits down after with smoke coming up from her head because it is no easy task 🙂 On Monday’s, Wednesday’s, & Friday’s we wake up at 6 to help serve at a feeding program at a cute church in Parramos. Then we dash to a school just outside of Antigua to help teachers out for a couple hours and play with the kiddos.
These days are busy and long but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
40 something days left. To live up fully my eight foot world. All the wonderful people in front of and beside me, to love them well and to not get caught up in the ‘when I’m home’s’ because home will come. To be fully present where I am and what the heck the Lord is doing here- because there’s a lot.
all my love,
Em
