100 Lessons in 100 Days

I have been on the World Race for 100 days! This year has been the biggest blessing in my life. It is hard, hilarious, humbling, JOYFUL, and so much more. Here are some of the many lessons that I have learned. Most come along with funny stories you couldn’t even imagine. Some are heavier lessons that the Lord taught me. 

Enjoy a peek into my last 100 days:

1. Nothing is wasted… even poop. It’s great fertilizer for the mango trees. 
2. Never ask what you have been served. You might not like the answer and you have to eat it anyway. 
3. There is not a limit to how many racers can fit in the back of a truck. The limit does not exist. 
4. Just because you see an old navy shirt for sale at the market doesn’t mean you can buy three of them. Packing cubes don’t have much give to them. Neither do weight limits.
5. Stickers are a form of currency among students. Give them sparingly. 
6. When it comes to washing clothes, any body of water will do. Just don’t lose your teammate’s underwear down the river. 
7. If you eat all of your food, your host will just make more. It’s an endless cycle of eating to show respect and cooking to show respect. 
8. I learned how to use a squatty potty and what to do when you miss…
9. How to live a normal life out of a backpack.
10. Attempting the local language is always appreciated.
11. Eyeliner can make you a new woman. 
12. Always carry toilet paper. Always.
13. How to never know anything ever and still survive.
14. Machetes are the most universal tool created. 
15. Smiles can move mountains.
16. Giant spiders are out there. You may not see them, but they are there. 
17. Let go of your right to choose anything ever. 
18. How to shave a coconut
19. Whom the Son sets free, is FREE INDEED.
20. Getting WiFi can be an adventure of a day. Taxi rides, getting lost, finding coffee or McDonald’s. These trips frequently turns into life chats that distract from WiFi. 
21. You can get sick from spending the night in a room with AC.
22. Cold water is practically non existent. 
23. Abandonment isn’t fun. 
24. Street food can be so worth it.
25. I will never fly Ethiopian Airlines if I can avoid it. 
26. Food poisoning is the worst thing to catch on travel days. 
27. 12 asian people might be able to fit in that elevator, but only 4 Americans with backpacks can. 
28. Being okay with not knowing what you’re doing for ministry until you arrive to your ministry host.
29. Ministry set up sheets are never accurate.
30. I carry more in my pack than most people have in their homes. 
31. I contemplate throwing it all away every time I have to carry it. 
32. Racers see tattoos as souvenirs that don’t weigh your pack down. 
33. Being obedient to my parents is rough when tattoos are only $12…
34. Store an extra bottle of sink water for when Africa decides to be Africa.
35. Flash drives with movies on them are the most precious pieces of technology you could own. 
36. Baby wipes can do all things. 
37. All people desire to be listened to.
38. I sweat more than I ever thought possible. 
39. It may look like tofu, but it is actually chilled and solidified blood….
40. Your jeans are never the same without a dryer.
41. Hand washing your laundry can be an all day activity if you wait long enough.
42. Sweat. Shower. Sweat while you dry off. Repeat. 
43. Play it safe. Don’t try to charge 14 devices on one plug. You’ll blow the power for the whole hostel.
44. Bartering is all about the slow turn and walk away.
45. When you’re on an all girls team, there is just no need to shave… 
46. Never leave home without your power bank and a pair of headphones.
47. How to trust that the Lord to finish what he starts. 
48. If you don’t spend time with Jesus, you’ll show it. 
49. The free table is essentially Christmas morning. (*The Free Table* is where everyone drops their unwanted items that they don’t want to carry to the next month.)
50. Free table alliances are deep and real. Half of my wardrobe is now Nicole’s because of her “buy something, drop something” rule.
51. Comfort is not really a thing out here.
52. I’ve become significantly better at mental math thanks to new currencies. 
53. How to function in a community with zero alone time. 
54. How to become friends with the local police. 
55. How to stay consistent with pills on an inconsistent schedule (or even time zone)
56. Worship is powerful in any language.
57. How to look like you’re staying awake during a 3 hour church service you can’t understand. 
58. I love to give gifts but I can’t carry them all, so no one gets gifts. This was a hard lesson. 
59. How to find Ghana Cedi (for the sake of the classroom) while in Thailand over Instagram live. Keep all your currencies people!
60. When you tell people you want to grow in worship, they’re going to make you sing… a lot. 
61. You can get WiFi on a river canoe in Cambodia. 
62. It’s illegal to go commando in Thailand. Oops! It’s laundry day!!
63. Cold showers. I learned how to love them. 
64. How to make beauty supplies out of household items (example: brown sugar lip scrub)
65. To lead you must follow. 
66. We love because he first loved us. 
67. How to be the best charades player the world will ever see. 
68. The proper way to wear a wrap skirt in Africa. If the seam is on the left, you’re a prostitute. We didn’t know until our last week…
69. How to make 18 outfits out of 6 articles of clothing
70. You can survive without washing your hair for a week or two. That doesn’t mean your teammates will appreciate it though!
71. How to navigate crossing the border (walking, driving, or flying) with 30 people.
72. How to live off of rice for every meal.
73. How to act like you know the price for a tuk tuk when you have been in the country for an hour. Overcharging is a real thing!
74. How to accept the reality of scooping bugs out of your cleavage when you wake up in the morning. 
75. A ten hour bus ride in Africa doesn’t guarantee a bathroom break.. I had to hold it for six hours. 
76. Geckos chirp out here. What the heck.
77. How to fit 3 people and their human-sized luggage into a 4 person tuk tuk.
78. Hydroflasks are a gift from heaven.
79. Ministry is life and life is ministry.
80. Coffee is universal.
81. Learning how to make everyone’s “perfect cup” is a spiritual gifting.
82. How to sleep on a rollercoaster of a bus ride.
83. How to sleep on a plane when an Ethiopian lady steals your blanket. 
84. How to sleep on a canoe ride. 
85. Some crocodile farms are safer than others.
86. You can eat every part of the chicken. Heads, feet, and eyeballs are all up for grabs. 
87. Proposals happen often out here and the only way to get them to leave is to make up a fictional boyfriend.
88. People are working every day to get the Word of God to every tribe in their own language. It’s humbling to witness.
89. African hospitals don’t have the same confidentiality codes as western hospitals. 
90. It’s possible to poop your pants. In fact, it is just a reality of getting a parasite. 
91. Sometimes African men lead you into the jungle with machetes and it all part of ministry.
92. You can find donuts on the village street corners.
93. Your ministry host might try to set you up with a cute guy during Evangelism. 
94. Obedience is not always pretty.
95. Rice causes constipation… unfortunately. 
96. Living with ex cons that love Jesus is actually the safest place you can be. 
97. My childhood dream of living in a tree house was totally justified. It was a dream. 
98. How to eat sugar cane straight out of the jungle.
99. Maybe can be an appropriate answer for any question. 
100. God is GOOD. Every day. Every moment. Every country. He is good and he is moving.