On Thursday, September 7th, I boarded a plane in Austin with my momma and took off to Atlanta, Georgia! When we arrived in Atlanta, I went to the hotel where all the racers stayed and my mom went to the parents hotel! Immediately it felt weird and sad being apart from her. The fact that we were both in the same city but not able to spend much time with each other (we were both in separate sessions) was difficult at first.
Getting there a day early was fun! I arrived a day early because I was given the position of “point person” for my team. As a point person I facilitate daily team times and occasionally communicate with the host, depending on where we are and who we are with. It’s really cool and I am honored to have been chosen for this! After a day of training with only around 16 others on my squad, it was time for the rest of them to arrive! I absolutely loved reuniting with them and it made me so giddy because the reality of the race/launch starting had officially sunk in!
The few moments I got to spend with my mom were wonderful, and I soaked it all up. We were able to get breakfast with each other twice, as well as a night of worship and lunch the next day! The night of worship was absolutely incredible. With hundreds of racers in the room we worshipped our God, while hand-in-hand with my mom. I will never ever forget that. The next day, we had our final lunch and goodbye. My heart was heavy, but I was also ready for my sweet mom to leave, so that I could officially begin my World Race! Nonetheless, it wasn’t easy. The good of that day outweighed the bad by far! In a squad session we meditated on God’s word and were then asked to write down what keeps us coming back to His table. I said His unconditional love keeps me going to Him. Afterwards, we were given an envelope with our names on it that contained a key necklace. We were told that this necklace had been prayed over, had a word on it that would apply to our life on the race and that we are supposed to give it to someone we meet along the way when it felt right. Such an awesome idea! Well, I nervously opened my envelope to see that my key said the word “loved”… LOVED. How. Freaking Perfect. I had just written down that I loved God’s unconditional love, and then I was given that key? His timing is perfect and I really needed that. I am so excited to live this out and eventually give it someone else! I was literally given the key to love. I cannot wait to spread this love around the world!
That was just a quick summary of Launch, I learned and grew a lot through gaining more information in each session, but typing it all out would make a novel. Just know it was great! Now as I write this, I am in an Airport in Washington, D.C.! Yesterday we woke up at 4:00am and left Atlanta at 5:00am. We arrived in D.C. last night, stayed at a hotel, and we are now waiting to board a plane to Doha, Qatar (12 hour flight) where we will have a 10 hour layover before our 8 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa! From South Africa we will take a bus to our final destination, Swaziland! I can’t believe I hop on my first plane of the race in just a few hours!! THIS IS HAPPENING PEOPLE!
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