My World Race adventure started on mile 14 of the W&OD trail in Vienna, Virginia with Natalie Dache.
Natalie and I had been walking/running a few mornings a week. One of these mornings we started talking about her experiences on the race and I started asking questions.
Where did you go?
What did you do?
Who were you with?
Did you like them?
Why did you want to go?
What did you eat?
How often did you shower?
You did WHAT to your leg hairs?
All of these plus more came flying at her in rapid succession. The questions came from honest curiosity, about an awesome experience a close friend had had. However, Natalie knew differently.
While I was at Natalie’s one day, okay actually it was 1AM on a Tuesday night, I saw a spiral bound notebook with her face on it. Upon closer inspection it was a copy of all of her blogs while she was on the race. I borrowed it thinking it would be fun to read about everything she did. When I got home I dropped it next to my bed, this became its new home for the next 3.5 weeks.
I went to Alaska with my parents on July 20 and had yet to touch the blogs. When I got back home I had this antsy and unsettled feeling. I had only had this feeling once before, four years earlier, when I decided to move from Idaho to Washington DC for a nanny job with a family I had never met. I began praying about the antsy feelings and prayed for them to go away or for God to show me what to do with them. I love my life, my job, my friends, my community, my church, and my junior high kids. I didn’t necessarily want to move but I knew there was something more I was being called to.
A few days after coming back home I was again walking with Natalie and she suggested I go on the race. I was adamantly against it for no other reason than it wasn’t of my own fruition. I may be a little bit stubborn. While at work the next Monday I texted her and asked if they only launch squads during January. She sent me a link to the World Race website where I learned that they had posted the new July 2014 routes that day. I again bombarded her with questions.
How much does it cost?
Was it hard to get accepted?
Do you work with kids a lot?
What is the process like?
What were your expectations of the race?
What is the timeline like leading up to launch?
How long is training camp?
What if I’ve never been on an international missions trip before?
How many people are on a squad?
How many are on a team?
I got home from work and immediately started reading her blogs, I also began reading all about the race and exploring their website. I knew by the next day that I wanted to apply, however I also knew I wanted to talk to my dad about it first and get his blessing. My Dad was, at that very moment, in north Idaho camping with my family so was, unfortunately for me, out of cell service. I emailed him the link to their website and asked him to look it over and give me some feedback. I was so impatient to hear from him that I again emailed him and asked him to call the first second he had service. He called on Wednesday evening and said he had read it over and thought it looked like a great opportunity, was fine if I applied, but that wanted to look it over more. I applied right when I hung up the phone with him.
While at Jr. High camp, a few days after I applied, Natalie told me she knew the minute I borrowed her blogs that I would eventually apply for the race. She also said she had thought of ways of stealing them back without me knowing before I started reading them so I wouldn’t abandon leave her to go on the race.
I got the call that I was accepted to the race on September 3! I still have 10 months until I launch and I don’t think the reality of what I am about to do has set in. But I know the Lord will challenge, mold and grow me in ways I never thought possible which is one of the most exciting and scary thoughts!
