- You can’t know what it is like to be on the race until you are actually on the race
I thought before I launched that I had a pretty good idea of what the race was going to look like for me, but boy was I wrong. I knew the race was going to be hard, and I thought I knew how. I was very wrong. There are things that the Lord brought back up in my mind that I thought I had dealt with that I had to deal with all over again. The Lord did a REALLY good job digging up the things that I had pushed deep down. I also thought I knew how amazing the race was going to be, but I couldn’t have ever imagined the amazing friends I have made and the community I have around me. I know that when the end of my nine months on the race comes I will miss the CRAP out of the people around me.
- I LOVE MANUAL LABOR
I never thought I would be saying that… Manual labor is hard, don’t get me wrong, but it is also amazing. I love that I am able to see immediate results with the work I am doing and can actually see how the work I am doing is going to affect the people I am helping. Another reason I love it is because I am able to use the body God gave me to do things I didn’t know I could do (even if my body does give me trouble sometimes, I am still thankful for what I CAN do). My favorite thing to do while doing manual labor with my team is to step back and watch them keep working and look for ways I can see Gods character in them and in what they doing.
- God calls the unequipped and equips them
Before the race I never thought I was relational with kids (especially kids I can barely understand) in Ecuador or that I could mix concrete in the middle of the Thailand forest. I asked The Lord a lot before I left, “Why me?” I told Him, “I am not who you want to send. I can’t speak Spanish, I can barely stand up straight, and I certainly can’t carry a 40+ pound pack on my back around the world.” Then, He spoke to me through a song. I don’t remember the title, but it talks about how God uses the weak and makes them strong for His glory. That is what He did with me, and without Him I would have never been able to pick up as much Spanish as I have or able to pour out as much as I have to the kids here to the point of pure exhaustion. Without Him I would have never been able to pick up my pack and carry it with a straight back after not being able to carry it for 4 months or able to mix concrete in Thailand. He took me as unequipped as I was and equipped me in the ways He needed me to be equipped to do His work.
Thanks for reading! Also if you haven’t already here is the link to my YouTube channel where you can catch up on all my latest videos! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsFE9X9VyJFKX83VniNTpYg?view_as=subscriber
