Next week is one of my best friend’s birthday and I will not be there. She is beautiful and talented and an excellent example of a Christian women and it just so happens she is a writer, someone actually pays her everyday to write. So of course when I left I asked her to consider writing a blog for me from her perspective, and this week she delivered. So enjoy her thoughts on this adventure that God has called me to…and help me wish her a very Happy Birthday. She also included pictures of us to share, and one of her favorites of me and because I love her, I’m posting it on the internet for the whole world to enjoy.
When Your Best Friend Goes on the World Race
I’m having a birthday party this weekend and one of my best friends won’t be there. Part of me still wanted to send her a Facebook invitation, even though I knew she wouldn’t be able to make it. While people fill our house to mingle and eat meatballs, Sara will be fast asleep in Ghana.
My best friends and I all met in middle school. I remember seeing Sara in my 6th grade algebra class before I ever met the others, but we didn’t really become friends until a couple of years later. We’ve now spent over half our lives together.
When Sara told me she was thinking of doing the World Race, I told her she absolutely should. I was beyond excited about it, but also a wee bit jealous. I’d heard of it several years before, and if I hadn’t been on the verge of getting married, I probably would have done it.
Shortly before she left for training last summer, she had lunch with me at work. We parted ways in the parking lot, and I felt a little lump in my throat walking back inside. Eleven months is a long time to go Sara-less. Especially as my husband and I embark on a whole new chapter in life.
I’ve been happily surprised to find more emails and Instagram posts from her than I thought I would. I assumed the emails would be few and far between, but I’ve loved following her journey from Central and South America, all the way to Africa—seeing her teach art to kids in Guatemala, eat beans and tortillas for Thanksgiving, wear patterned skirts in Ghana, and have all kinds of adventures with livestock.
Still, there are times I wish I could call but can’t, and just as many times I wish I could drive to her town home—after she warns me, yet again, that it’s messy and not to judge.
While she’s serving people around the world, though, I’ve been challenged to look at my life differently. She wrote a post about living without a lot of extras—as in no running water, minimal electricity and a small amount of space—right around the time we were getting new countertops and searching for a larger replacement vehicle.
When fall came, I couldn’t wait to bust out my boots and knee socks; meanwhile, Sara was taking cold bucket showers in Honduras.
And when I got another email reminding me my iCloud storage was almost full, a delayed email from Sara reminded me of her spotty Wi-Fi.
Her experiences remind me not to take things for granted and that most of us in America have more than we need. They motivate me to be more selfless and to live well this life God has given me. Her descriptions of church make me reflect on my Sunday mornings and my own relationship with Almighty.
Am I reading words on a screen, or am I praising God? Am I spacing out during a sermon or eating up this chance to learn? Am I grouchy about all the things not going my way or joyful in all the ways He’s been faithful?
I’ve wondered a few times what it’ll be like for her when she gets back. When she’s sitting in traffic again and surrounded by outlet malls again and going to church where there’s a predictable layout to worship and no dancing barefoot.
It wasn’t nearly as extreme, but I remember coming home after a semester in Australia and feeling almost homesick for a country that isn’t my own. Will Sara have reverse culture shock? Will she still want to live here, or will she feel a tug back to the mission field?
Time will tell, but for now, I’m so proud of her taking this leap of faith and watching that faith grow exponentially as she’s thrown out of her comfort zone time and time again. I know she won’t return the same, but I’m already planning an extended sleepover for when she does.
The brownie batter is waiting.
Written by Tiffany Jothen, you can find more of her writing here: https://billygraham.org/author/tiffany-jothen/
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