Dear 2018,
Thank you for being a year that I will never forget. So many things happened this year. I kicked it off by committing to do this thing called “The World Race Gap Year” as I was entering into my last semester of high school.
The first five months of the year consisted of talks about graduation and the future. Graduation rolled around and then a few days later I was in China with my family. I returned to the place where I spent the first 11 months of my life. I turned 18 on a beach in Thailand and celebrated by playing with elephants. I met 50 people that would soon become my family for nine months. I said goodbye to the comforts of home and began an adventure that would change my life.
2018… You taught me a lot. I learned that home is not a physical building, but truly where you place your heart. I learned that the Lord will always be my comforter and learned how to completely believe that. You showed me new people to love and new places to see. You made me realize that family is such a gift from You, but that I needed to learn how to hold it out and recognize that it’s Yours… not mine. I am still learning about how my identity is in Him and Him alone. This is something I’m excited to keep leaning into.
Growth started this year that has been hard and tested my heart, but it is taking me to a new place of reliance on the Lord. I’ve been on 17 planes, a train and spent many hours on busses and cars. With so much movement in my life, the Lord reminded me to be still through it all.
The Lord has been so good this year. I learned that I was going to be an aunt to a baby boy who will be born any day now!! It’s hard to believe that it’s already 2019. Life is flying by and I know this year has high expectations to live up to. The first six months will be spent living in India and Guatemala… I can’t even begin to imagine what the Lord is going to do in this time.
I hope you all had an amazing Christmas celebrating His birth and an amazing New Years!! I cannot believe it’s been a whole year since this World Race Gap Year journey kicked off, but I am so thankful that you all have been supporting me from the beginning. By God’s grace I am almost halfway through me Race and learning so much in it. We head to Churachandpur, Manipur, India on January 5th🙂
Love,
Sarah
