I made it all the way around the world and back to Wisconsin.
I’ve been home for about a week and a half I’ve kept pretty busy while also resting up a little. I’ve spent some time with my parents, caught up on the Great British Baking Show, and started working towards my next transition– moving to Nashville, TN! I had tentative plans to move south before leaving for the Race, and I expected them to change (which they did), but I still ended up coming to a full circle as I prepare to move on Saturday.
The end of the Race was bitter-sweet. I was more than ready to leave Swaziland and re-enter into America, to see my family and start eating vegetables again, but I was also grieving the end of this season with my squad. The thought that it’s officially over and will never be again still hits me pretty hard sometimes, but at the same time I’m incredibly excited for the next season. So far re-entry is going well. Some things are more difficult to process than I thought they’d be, but some things are also easier. I don’t know if it’s really hit me yet, that everything I spent a year preparing for and then another year actually completing is over, but at the same time, I anticipated some of the challenges I knew I’d face which I think has made it easier.
And of course, the Lord has not stopped being good just because the World Race is over, because honestly the Race was just a trip. And I know describing it as a “trip” is drastically oversimplifying everything the Lord did in me and through me overseas, but that’s all it technically was. It’s not the is-all end-all of my growth and so now I’m looking forward to what the Lord has next for me.
As I said before, I’m moving to Nashville on Saturday! During the last few weeks of the Race I didn’t have plans for what was next besides wanting to move out of the Midwest. I was living in the middle of nowhere without WIFI or a way to research housing, jobs, cars, etc., so I just kept praying that the Lord would provide, because to be honest I was really worried about coming home with no plans and having no routines after living such a structured life the past nine months. And I know that I thrive with structure in my days. But as I also said before, the Lord hasn’t stopped being good, and in less than a week of being home he provided all of the above– a job, car, and a place to live not too far from where I’ll be working and from my older sister and brother-in-law.
The way things have come together so quickly and harmoniously has left me a little breathless, a few (or more) moments of overwhelming panic about actually being an adult, but mostly astounded with gratitude for how much the Lord always cares and provides for me. I know it’s because of his love for his children that he cares for us so well, but at the same time I feel as if I don’t deserve it. I honestly really don’t, but there’s grace for that, and I am so thankful.
So the plan is Nashville for a while (at least a year, hopefully longer) because I’ve been looking forward to some indefinite/long-term stability, and I’m hoping to save as much as I can and keep traveling within and outside of missions both in the U.S. and overseas. For now, I’m excited to spend time with my siblings this summer and start my new job as a baker at a local coffee house in Nashville.
I’ve said it many times over the past seventeen and a half months (from when I began support raising in January 2018), but I owe everything I’ve accomplished and become these past two years first to the Lord, and second to my supporters, for not only freely giving their money towards my trip, but also for seeking me out, following along, and encouraging me through emails, cards, letters, and comments on my blogs/photos. Each one of you have played an instrumental part in my life and in what the Lord has begun and will continue to do in Guatemala, Thailand, Myanmar, and Swaziland. You may have viewed it as a monetary donation at the time, but now I hope you realize that you’ve changed children’s lives by teaching them English, discipling them with Bible stories and moral lessons, playing hand-slapping and running games in the heat of the day, and simply just taking the time to love them and talk to them. Yes, I know you weren’t physically there, and even as a result of that you’ll never be able to see the fruit that came from it, but your generosity to give donations, time, energy, and anything else have done these things through the work of the Lord. I know I’m not the best writer/blogger, but I’ve prayed my posts have helped you see what you’ve actually done overseas and in these children’s lives.
This will probably be my last blog, so again I would like to say thank you so, so much for taking part in the developing mission work in Guatemala, Thailand, Myanmar, and Swaziland and for investing in my own discipleship alongside of that.
I pray this past year and whatever it contained was as impactful for you as it was for me.
All the love in the world,
erika
