That’s right. Ninety-five days till your girl is back in Minnesota. I’ll be honest the previous sentence gives me all the feels. I think I’m a little bit in denial about having only three more months left on the race. When I first started seriously considering going on the World Race, I thought how weird it would be to away from home for a whole year. And now here we are – wrapping up month 8 in Costa Rica and heading to Panama TODAY.
The last eight months have held some of my favorite days & memories and has also brought some of the hardest moments of my life too. It’s hard and a little bit weird to try and put these feelings into words, but I’ll give it a try:
I feel a lot of excitement about coming home. I love that I’ll be coming home at the end of summer & getting back before the routine of a new school year starts. I also have some anxiety about coming home. How can I possibly leave my squad after a year? I sometimes can’t even remember what home is like, and I’m a little anxious to come back to a place that has been changing without me. I sometimes think about how people will respond to me coming home, will you think I’m weird when I talk about everything I saw God do?
I feel tired… tired of packing up all my stuff 1-4 times a month depending on how many ministries we have and if we have a debrief. I counted up how many different places I’ve slept in the past eight months, and it adds up to THIRTY-FIVE separate beds. That seems pretty excessive but between days of travel at a time, overnight adventures and debriefs I’ve packed and unpacked so many times. I miss the consistency of my schedule and life. Tired of sharing a bathroom with multiple different people. Tired of the same clothes and tired of eating rice.
But most of all, I feel incredibly blessed and grateful. People told me a lot before I left “you’re so lucky, when will you ever have the chance to do this again in life?!” I can’t tell you how many dreams came true on this trip- I sang and danced with kids in the Philippines and brought them hope through Bible stories. I went Christmas caroling for hours in Malaysia and prayed for people who were Muslim and didn’t celebrate Christmas, but they still welcomed us into their homes. I gave my testimony in an African hospital and people came to know the Lord because of it, I dug hole after hole in Nicaragua to assist in planting a plantain field. The race is hard, but it’s worth it.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to have more blogs focused towards “re-entry” (I feel weird saying that because some days it feels like I’m still in America.) I’m hoping to have a friend who’s been on the race before write a blog about what her re-entry was like and some perspective that I don’t have yet.
A week ago, we got our official flight information to America, and we will be leaving Ecuador and heading to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The thought of leaving my squad and going home the same day already overwhelms me. So, to come home healthy emotionally, and spiritually, I’m choosing to stay in Florida for two nights to sabbath, process and rest. I’d ask that you prayerfully consider financially supporting me through the transition of flying home and spending two nights in Florida to Sabbath. Also, please know that your words of encouragement and prayers mean the world to me. Here some specific ways to be praying over the next 100 days:
– full engagement in ministry over the next three months
– unity of our team
– continued clarification of what to do after the race
– space and opportunity to start processing this year now
– financial provision currently & following the race
Financially you can give directly to me easily through PayPal & Venmo (ashley_collins) My flight home is an out of pocket expense that I have not yet fundraised. Please help me from being stranded in Florida 😉
