Oh man. I can’t even believe I’m sitting here in Atlanta writing this blog from my hotel room. I’m actually here. At launch. In Atlanta, Georgia. WHAT?!
I arrived in Atlanta exhausted (still am), confused, and completely scatterbrained. Not exactly the way I’d hoped to start off the world race. But in the midst of all the craziness and jam-packed schedules, God is working. I saw it at the hotel coffee shop when a stranger bought me coffee after my squad mate and I shared what we were doing with him and his business colleagues who happened to be here on a business trip and were inspired by what we are doing. I saw it when I experienced a huge peace wash over me as soon as the rest of my squad mates started getting here. I saw it when my squad mate spoke truth over me and quieted the whispers of the enemy. I saw it when my mentor prayed over me during worship. Aside from all of the scattered emotions that are spewing out of my heart, I can see God working.
It’s hard. Saying goodbye to everyone was hard. I honestly feel like it still hasn’t hit me yet, so you may be reading a “call for help” blog next week (okay..I’m kidding, kind of). But the reality of it is that I don’t have to go on the world race. I really don’t. I don’t have to do any of it. But the great news is that I GET to. I GET to travel around the world and love on the people who God loves. I GET to go build relationships with people all across the world and serve them in any way the Lord wants me to. I GET to do the world race! Not everybody gets an opportunity to do that, and I’m so thankful that I’m here. I’m so excited to see what all God is going to do in these next 11 months.
So we’re officially halfway done with launch. We’re overloading our brains with information and training and all things world race. We’re choosing to walk boldy in the team roles that we have been hand-picked for. We’re choosing to encourage each other when all we want to do is crawl up to our rooms and just sleep. We chose to laugh instead of freak out when we realized we had 30 seconds to get to session. We chose to remain calm (ish) when our hotel toilet overflowed onto our entire bathroom floor after a rather lengthy trip to the bathroom (I’ll let your imagination fill in the blanks). Instead of going to sleep we chose to engage with one another by having a Dorito party after one of my squad mates blessed me with free doritos. Seriously Bethany, if you’re reading this, you’re a BLESSING. We’re choosing Jesus. We’re choosing each other. And it’s so so sweet.
P.S. We leave in a couple of days to go to our first country… HONDURAS.
**Also quick side note: I am praying my way towards becoming fully funded and I have until April to make that happen! So please consider donating if you are able to, and if you aren’t then I ask that you’d please pray for me. If you’d like to stay updated throughout these next 11 months then subscribe to this blog!
