When I was a little girl I used to dream of one day being a pop star, that obviously didn’t pan out 🙂 As I grew into middle school I decided I wanted to be a detective. After being asked to attend a camp where we would have to walk into staged crime scenes, I realized that maybe being a detective wouldn’t be as awesome as Law and Order had made it out to be. After high school I thought owning my own business was the way to go. I enrolled myself in a college course that would prepare me for this kind of career. One of my final assignments was to create a business from scratch (every cent accounted for) and by the end of this project, I hated business.
Our dreams tend to change as often as the seasons but when we are called, we go. I have recently been asked a lot about why I chose this trip instead of something else. There are so many missionary options out there and this one, in my opinion, is one of the most challenging. I love being challenged in my faith because you almost always come out changed in the end. I could easily go and stay with my friends in Brazil or go with my church to Guatemala and probably for a quarter of the price. The World Race is expensive, it is long term, and it is physically taxing. I can promise you that if someone asked me a year ago if I wanted to sell everything I own and spend $17000 to walk everywhere and live out of my backpack, I probably would have laughed it off as a joke. This will be one of the hardest most rewarding times in my life and I can’t even begin to explain how excited I am to be a part of a world missionary team.
Another thing I enjoy about the race is the fact that we will be “roughing it”. What exactly does “roughing it” imply? well from what I understand I will be living out of my backpack and walking most places. I must say goodbye to clean bathrooms and hello to many different versions of squatty potties (see picture below) and very little toilet paper. My new “bedroom” will be a tent and sleeping pad that I carry with me. My wardrobe will be reduced down to about a weeks worth of clothing and cleanliness will begin to look a lot different. I think of all these things and it reminds me of the disciples. They gave up everything, their family, their jobs, their homes and so much more to follow Jesus and although it may seem crazy to everyone else, I am excited to live a life similar to that. I am excited to learn what it means to truly have little of this world but to be abundantly blessed in love. I cannot wait! Thank you to everyone who is supporting me in this venture! You are the best!
Just in case you are wondering what a squatty potty might look like
