I’ve been home for about 3 months and honestly haven’t found the words to explain how re-entry was or how I was feeling. I also definitely fell in to the lie that once I got home no one would care about what I was doing anymore. So thank you to every person who reached out to me for life updates, told me they were continuing to pray for me, or asked me if I was going to write any more blogs. This one will definitely be all over the place as I try to summarize the past 3 months, along with my feelings and plans for the future.
Re-entry: As I touched on in my past blogs, I was very scared to come home. I loved the race so much and it had become my normal. More and more I am beginning to discover that I am truly a person who is happy where I am. It is very hard for me to let go and leave seasons of my life, but once the next one has started, I love it. I love falling into new routines, but it scares me to have to build them. That being said, I fell pretty quickly back into the flow of life at home. It was all very familiar, but it sometimes felt like I was a completely different person stuck in the past. I kept up my journaling and reading my Bible pretty consistently for the first 2 months, but as life picked up this past month I have honestly not been prioritizing like I should (we love room for growth!!).
It was amazing to be back with my family, friends, crossfit, and iced coffee. I worked at my church, Village Church all summer as the Assistant Children’s Director, and absolutely loved being back in ministry. There were definitely days at home where I struggled a lot with feeling useless- going from doing ministry all day every day to almost not at all is a big change. Sometimes I sat down to watch ‘Friends’ or something with my family I was overcome with guilt because I wasn’t doing enough ‘ministry’, but the Lord really helped me grow in being present where I am and not comparing the seasons in my life. I was able to join a small Bible study of past-racers which I absolutely loved, and soon found some other small ministries on my own, some just as simple as taking the time to talk to and bring food to a homeless person outside Trader Joe’s or stepping into a lot more prayer for the countries I had been in.
I did however struggle, and am still struggling, a lot with my health. After being so sick in Guatemala (the parasite, stomach and bladder infections, and strep) my stomach hadn’t ever returned to how it was as a result of all of the antibiotics, and it became progressively worse when I got home. I woke up each morning extremely nauseous and somedays could only eat once a day due to painful cramps and such intense nausea. I will spare you the details but my digestive system was definitely not working the way it should. I began to seek out medical help and went through a long process of being passed from doctor to doctor, even being admitted to the hospital for testing once. I was really discouraged and once again neglected to include the Lord in my health problems. It is something that is so often overlooked in America due to the availability to good health care. After about 2 1/2 months of testing I began to pray over myself and for answers and the Lord really showed up in big ways. Two weeks ago I was diagnosed with SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) along with post-trauma IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). I am on an antibiotic and a medicine for chronic pain and nausea for the next 3 months along with a very strict diet of about 20 specific foods that I allowed to eat for the foreseeable future based on my recovery. It has definitely been hard adjusting to this new food lifestyle, but the Lord has placed so many amazing people in my life to come alongside me in this time. We are hoping that my SIBO will be under control by the end of this year, and along with it that my PT-IBS won’t flare up as the SIBO treatment should also help with that. While I am really starting to see the positives in this, I would still appreciate lots of prayer for continued healing.
Whats Next?: As I am typing this I am on my way to Vienna, Austria! I will be spending the next week and a half with friends there (shoutout to the Leaks!!) before heading to Bodenseehof Bible School on September 20th. I am so excited for this next adventure, and am stoked to dive deeper into the Word and begin intensive theology classes. I will be there until mid December, then I will be home for just over 2 weeks for Christmas, then will head back to Germany for the second term (January-early April). I am excited to see how the Lord will work in this next season, and am walking into it with great expectancy. Leaving home was pretty hard (leaving seasons is hard for me, have I mentioned that?), but I know that this is where the Lord is calling me to.
Thank you all so much for continuing to keep me in your prayers, it truly means the world to me. If you have any questions about the race, or my time in Germany, please do not hesitate to reach out. If you have a ton of questions, I would love to meet with you for coffee in December when I get home. Once again, thank you for all of your support!
With love,
Michelle Moxley
