Check out my final Race blog!
“How was the Race?”
In a sentence: The World Race was the best and worst, most draining and most fulfilling, most heartbreaking and most eye-opening year of my life (thus far). I have said goodbye to countries and parasites and villages. I have said goodbye to people that I consider family. I have said goodbye to life as I knew it. And now it’s time to say goodbye to the World Race.
Saying a goodbye to this season and processing the last year of my life has been difficult, to say the least. I’ve started crying at random points and have felt lonely (especially with most of my squad heading to PSL now). But, through it all, I have seen the grace and goodness of God. As such, I wanted to share what I consider some of my most important lessons from every country, and Training Camp.
Without further adieu, my last blog for the World Race:
Training Camp: New Wine
You know how they say hindsight is 20/20? Truuuuuue. Looking back at Training Camp I can’t help but be reminded of the song “New Wine’ by Hillsong (FYI, the song didn’t come out until 11 months after Training Camp. Hindsight, remember?). TC was easily one of the most transforming weeks of my life. During these 10 days, for the first time in my life, I truly realized how broken I was/am. TC was hard. I cried more there than I had in the past 5 years. Somehow I also managed to make some of the best friends (true friends don’t mind ugly crying, amiright?) and see and feel God’s presence more than I had in the past 5 years. While reflecting and processing the Race as a whole, I truly see “New Wine” as the theme, and TC was just the beginning. The lyrics say,
“In the crushing
in the pressing
You are making new wine.
In the soil I now surrender
You are breaking new ground //
Where there is new wine
there is new power
there is new freedom
the Kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry your new fire today”
Training Camp was the start of the crushing and the pressing. But it was also the start of new wine, new power, and new freedom.
India: Expectations
India… wow, what a place. The people, the smells, the SPICE. One of the first blogs I wrote on the field was called “I Wasn’t Expecting That.” You see, at the start of this thing I realized I had a lot of expectations. I thought weekdays would be life 9-5 ministry (HA!) and the weekends would be adventuring. In reality there was no such thing as routine and on off days you probably would rather just sleep. In India I quickly learned you can have one and only one expectation- that the Lord will show up. So many times it’s not the way you expect Him to, but overtime it is for the better. Even if you aren’t going on the Race I’d encourage you to realize what your expectations are for any given situation and evaluate if they are beneficial or not. One day during quiet time on my sleeping pad the Lord told me, “Expectations are unhealthy, I work as I please.” Expect God to be good, nothing else.
Nepal: Friendship
Nepal was an interesting month, and of course, not what I expected. In fact, Nepal was one of the reasons I was so drawn to Route 2 in the first place! But in Nepal I was sick more than I was healthy, and, to be frank, that sucked. However, the Lord taught me so much about friendship during all-squad-month. True friends pick lice out of your hair or sit next to you on a street while you puke your brains out or scrub paint off your hands. True friends survive the Nepali house together (Dubs Up!).
Thailand: The Simple Gospel
Thailand is easily my favorite Asian country! Its not only beautiful, but taught me one of the most important lessons I will learn in my entire life. In Thailand I learned the point of literally the whole Gospel from our host, Pat. “Just love people. It’s so simple.” Pat showed our team what it means to be interruptible and live a life with the mission to be kind and love others- because it’s the best way to represent Jesus. If you’re interested in hearing more, check out this team blog from Live Boldly!
Cambodia: Emotions aren’t truth
Cambodia was honestly one of the toughest months of my life- I missed my family, there were health scares with friends and family, and there was a lot of spiritual warfare (Basically, in WR terms, I was in the “B Zone.” Hard). I had to constantly remind myself that my feelings did not reflect the truth. Though I felt abandoned by God and couldn’t feel His love, I had to tell myself Jesus died so I would know I AM loved, not so I would always feel like I am. Emotions are beautiful but they don’t always reflect the truth of the world or a situation.
Vietnam: There is no need to strive
I’ll just leave it at this:
“Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that note even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you- you of little faith?” ~Matthew 6:28-30
Ethiopia: You are Beloved
For my entire Christian life I was told “God loves you” but I never really believed it. How could He love and imperfect sinner as a perfect God? In Ethiopia it finally clicked and I really believed it for the first time in my life. For the first time… I realized who God created me (and you) to be- loved.
Rwanda: Joy
Joy. Pure joy. This is what comes to mind when I think about my month in Rwanda. I can’t help but smile when I remember our host family, or Poumpli, or worship seshes. This country and its people truly have my heart, and I am always in awe and have a joyful spirit when I think about each experience in Kigali, Rwanda.
“Look at the nations and observe- be utterly astounded! For I am doing something in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it.” ~Habakkuk 1:5
Bolivia: You can’t love one person well by loving another person poorly
Loyalty is my number 1 value (shoutout to Dan for this squad activity). This lesson wasn’t learned from a personal story, so I won’t go into detail in order to respect the privacy of others. All I can say is that loyalty to friends doesn’t mean you hate the person who wronged them. Loyalty is loving someone well, no matter what. But you can’t love someone better by hating someone else. Leave space in your heart for love, not bitterness.
“Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Tie them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.” ~Proverbs 3:3
Peru: The Lord declared you very good
Just because where you are at now isn’t where you want to be doesn’t mean the place you are now isn’t good. Check out my previous blog here.
Ecuador: Persevere
Some days on the Race you just want to quit. You want to throw in the towel because you’re tired and you feel sick and you miss your dogs. I could’ve done a better job at remembering Jesus’ perseverance that month. As I look back I’m not completely satisfied with all I did- which is okay because it means I’ve grown. If I looked back on Ecuador and thought I did it perfectly that means I haven’t really learned a whole lot since then. So thank the Lord that He’s always teaching us and that during the seasons when I need to persevere I will be reminded of this month.
Colombia: Thankfulness
In Colombia one night Alex started crying in our hostel. At first I was taken aback, ready to jump into her bunk and offer my support. But then she said in a cracked voice, “I’m just so thankful!” Colombia was a fun month- one of restoration from the Race and preparation for home. We spent time looking back on our Race, and we couldn’t help but be thankful for all the Lord has done.
The World Race: hard, pressing, devastating. But 100% worth it. Thank you for the memories. The heartbreak. The laughter. I miss you, but I’ll never see you again. Goodbye, dear friend.
A few people have asked if I will continue writing… the answer? YES! Check out my new blog, The LoL Notes. Feel free to subscribe to updates (bottom of the page)! Thanks for your continuous support. It has been quite the ride… but now it’s time for the next.
