One thing I HAD to do before leaving on The Race was visit my family, so on June 12, my girlfriend and I flew 3,000 miles back to my home state of California to spend a month with them. I could probably type until Saturday, when training camp starts, telling you about all of the laughs and adventures, as God has really blessed me with an incredibly fun and adventurous family, but I'll just spend some time telling you about some of the ways God worked and some of the things I struggled with during our visit.
This was the first time I'd seen my dad and Sarah (the youngest of my 2 amazing sisters) since they'd given their lives to Christ. I've spent countless nights over the years praying for them. Hearing my dad say things in light of the revelation of the Gospel, being able to share things with him about what it truly means to follow Christ, putting down the Nintendo Wii remotes to talk 1 on 1 with my sister well into the night & discussing some of the theological questions she has… It's difficult not to cry thinking about how grateful I am to God for hearing my prayers to not be alone in my family.
One thing I always find about my visits home, is that I end up feeling torn between 2 extremes. Here in North Carolina, it's very easy for me to desire a life unlike the majority. It's easy to think about spending my days as a poor missionary, completely dedicated to nothing other than spreading the Gospel and serving. But when I go home, I'm tempted. I catch myself dreaming about coming home from the race, capitalizing on the fact that my military service allows me to go to school for free in Texas, and then one day… maybe one day… moving back to California, having a great job, nice house, maybe a Ferrari to drive on the weekends… I mean, come on now, there are real Christians out there that have those things right? I run myself around in circles justifying the ideas and then condemning them. As of yet, I've only resolved to put any thoughts of the future out of my head until after The Race, because The Race is something I KNOW to do.
When I left for California, my funds for this trip were sitting at right about $1,847. I prayed, and prayed, and blogged about it, and posted on Facebook about it, and talked to everyone I knew, and spoke to pastors at churches, and handed out flyers. 2 WEEKS INTO MY TRIP!!! ON JULY 1!!! my funds were still at $1,847!!! I really didn't know what to think. Maybe God didn't want me to go? Maybe I sinned too much? Maybe I should have put even more of the money I had into the funds and less into the gear? I started thinking about what I would do while my girlfriend was on The Race (Natasha Paschal on route 1). By the time I saw the night sky lit up with fireworks to celebrate the 4th, I had a few rough ideas of what I would do… but guess what happened instead… on July 5, people gave. People gave A LOT! After this last check clears, I'll be 40% funded with $6,700!!! Talk about a MIRACLE!
Well, this post is almost done, but my title kinda promised you guys a rattlesnake didn't it? Alright, alright… I won't let you down, but after this, it's the end ok? During our stay in California, we all went up Mono Hot Springs in the Sierra Nevadas for a few days (great opportunity to try out all my gear & find out what wasn't up to par). While we were there, we jumped off cliffs into lakes, relaxed in God-made jacuzzis, and hiked. On one such hike, hours away from civilization, my sister Nicole screamed "SNAKE!", reached down to throw her dog backwards, and ran backwards herself. Time immediately slowed down & allowed me to look at my feet, see a snake ONE step in front of me, trace the snake from its head to it's tail, decide it was about 4 1/2 feet long, recognize the pattern & color of it's back, estimate the rattle to be about 2-3 inches long, and leap backwards. It was a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake crossing the path, and it would have killed us if it had bitten us. CRAZY!
God really came through on this trip, like always. He was there to provide for me, bless me, answer my prayers and desperate cries. He was there. And He's here, right now, and forever. I was in one state, for one month & I'm still trying to sift through all the awesome things He did while I was there. I imagine it'll take me the rest of my life to sift though everything after traveling 11 countries, for 11 months!
