The World Race is really weird to be honest. We leave all of our comforts back home and we travel the world with people we don’t know. Before I left I didn’t think how crazy it actually is. I loved life back home. I had amazing friends and family, I could eat whenever and whatever I wanted, I had a room to myself, plenty of clothes, and I could do just about anything. That’s not the same on the Race. I was flown to a new country with people I don’t know well, all of my items for 9 months fit in two bag, I share a room with a lot of girls and I have a different schedule planned for me each day, but half the time I never know what’s going on. I like it like that though, I love going with the flow and having whatever happens, happen. It’s fun and there’s always something new and exciting each day.
Having to give up mostly everything at home and go into the unknown was different. I had never done any of this before. I’ve been on mission trips but I always knew the people going with me and we were only gone for a week, but now I’m gone for 9 months. It’s something that God has been comforting me through. He’s given me peace with the fact that I won’t see my friends or family for a long time by giving me a new big family that I can always rely on. My squad is so great and my team is even better. It was weird at first because I’ve never had to make new friends. I’ve had the same friends for a long so going into an environment with all new people was challenging. I wasn’t sure how to go about it, but now I’m comfortable with everyone. We are one big happy family.
God has helped me be comfortable in the uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable to open up to people I don’t know well but God let me know that it was a safe place here. It was uncomfortable evangelizing to people that I don’t know but God gave me the words to say to help encourage them in their own faith. It was uncomfortable staying in a room with 15 other girls that I didn’t know well but now it’s like a slumber party each night. He’s given me a lot of peace while I’ve been here and he’s helped me to be comfortable in the uncomfortable. Each day is something new and each day God gives us comfort through it all.
