I am just an ordinary 28-year-old girl from small town New Hampshire who refuses to live an ordinary life. I exist in a world where I know nearly everyone I encounter, and if I don’t know them, more than likely, they know me… or my sister… or one of my parents… or one of my grandparents. In short, I come from a small town, a very small town. Three years ago, I was working and teaching at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Like any good country mouse, after a brief stint (15 months) in the city, I scurried home, reciting my mantra of ‘I’m never leaving here again. Ever.’ This wasn’t because the city was all that horrible; just that it lacked everything I know and love: Squam Lake, my town of Holderness and cousins and grandparents and lifelong friends less than ten miles away. Well, I’ve heard it said that ‘If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.’ I told Him my plans. And I told everyone else too! Now I find myself about to leave for nearly a year on this amazing adventure called The World Race, embracing everyone and everything I have feared and intentionally isolated myself from for years. Do you hear the laughter from the heavens?
I hear Him laughing too, and I am trusting that He is laughing with me and not at me. Interestingly enough, I found God and Jesus in a church. I know, isn’t that where most people usually find The Lord? This was not an ordinary situation though. I found Them in a church, at night, in a darkened sanctuary, with no one else around; I had gone there to hide. A sophomore in high school, I was on a Habitat for Humanity mission a few states away with several of my classmates. We were living in the basement of the church, and every night while my compatriots were busily devising new ways to get drunk or high on whatever they could, I escaped by sneaking upstairs into the sanctuary and reading the only thing I could get my hands on – The Bible. So it was by the light of a beautifully back-lit cross that I first discovered the truth of Jesus. I know, a seemingly romantic discovery of a new life. A life I managed to expound upon in later years of high school through Theology class, taught by Chip Bristol and the multitude of books he paraded before me.
I graduated from the high school Holderness School; for four years I stared at the school crest, on which the words “Pro Deo et Genero Humano” were emblazoned. This translates to “For God and Human Kind” and this is the way I try to live. I have tried to save the world through long distance cycling fundraising journeys. From my first twenty mile adventure in 3rd grade raising $350.00 to the latest Multiple Sclerosis Ride with my Mother where we raised over $10,000, my family and friends have supported this need in my heart to help make the world a better place, one revolution at a time.
Something that struck me on an AIDS Vaccine Ride years ago was “Let your ride be your prayer” and I try to not only let my ride be my prayer, but to let my LIFE be my prayer.
To that end, I am ‘involved’ in my community. While on the Race, I will be taking a leave of absence from my spot on the Planning Board. I am the silly person who actually enjoys reading the Zoning Ordinance and finding all the subtle nuances of it. I have also been a Guiding Eyes for the Blind Puppy Raiser (Vancouver and Margie), which involved pouring my heart and soul into an 8-week old puppy and training them to behave in the supermarket and on airplanes – not a task for the faint of heart. This past summer I was the Technical Director and Lighting Designer at our community theater: The Little Church Theater. I am also a member of White Mountain Toastmasters, an internationally affiliated public speaking club, and I mentor people in the community in public speaking and presentations.
I am always in the middle of at least one book, and often I will have two or three going at a time. If I don’t have a book in front of me, I am reading a news article, or a magazine, or researching the next good book to read (basically, I like to read). I am a huge country music fan; I don’t think I can name five pop songs from the last decade, a fact about which many of my friends give me a hard time. I strive to always be learning and tackling new experiences and adventures. With these things, I probably sound tragically boring, and the fact that I DVR Jeopardy every night can’t help.
In reality, I have endless amounts of energy, and when I am not at a meeting, I can be found doing myriad things: working with my Dad renovating a house here in town (yes, I am capable of handling power tools, and no, they are not pink); hiking the local mountains; kayaking around Squam Lake (for those more mature folks: the movie ‘On Golden Pond’ was filmed here); and of course spending time with my friends and family. This year, in an effort to make more of a connection to my community, I have begun substitute teaching, which is a far more rewarding and fun experience than I ever could imagine. My life here is very full. And yet, for the last few months, I felt that something was missing. Then I discovered The World Race.
When I first found the World Race, I was focused on the competition side of it. The Race. I wanted to know every single detail, about how it worked, what skills you needed to excel, how you win, and what you would win in the end. Over a few weeks as I read the blogs and followed these bold and daring souls who chose to follow Jesus into the Mission Field, I found that I began to see the other word more… The World. In fact, for a while, I actually forgot there was a Race! The compassion of everyone involved and the way the Racers are changing lives dispelled my recent complacency. I knew my own world had changed, and that this was something I felt compelled to do.
I am only one.
But I am one.
I cannot do Everything.
But I can do Something.
The Something I ought to do, I can do.
And by the Grace of God, I will.
-Edward Everett Hale
