God obviously knows me very well because he knew that I couldn’t make it in the city for very much longer. I never grew up in a big city or anywhere near one, for that matter, so being in cities for the past three months have been nothing short of a challenge. After we left India, I was excited to finally be out of that city. There were people everywhere and cars honking all through the night in Hyderabad which was much different from Rose Hill, Alabama which has hardly any people and the only thing that keeps you up at night is the crickets or the dogs. When we left, though, I found out that we would be staying in Kathmandu, Nepal which is pretty much just a dustier version of India. I was exhausted at the thought of having to push through another two months in a place I knew I would struggle to find hardly any comfort in. (I know the World Race isn’t about comfort, but it’s still nice every once in a while.) Anyway, I made it through the first month of Nepal perfectly fine but I was still incredibly drained by the city. Our first month here, our girls and guys split up and had manistry and womanistry which was so much fun but that meant that I didn’t know what my second month in Nepal would look like.
A little over a week ago, womanistry ended and my team was reunited. We moved into the home where the boys of Toso Kala had been living the past month and found out we would be staying with another team for the rest of our time in Nepal. We got there on a Saturday (I think) and had that next Sunday to hang out with our teams so mine went out to get pizza (best pizza of my life) and talk about all that we had experienced over the past month. We were also told to have our bags packed and ready to get on a bus Monday morning by 6:00 AM. We all woke up and piled on a bus with our packs early that morning and were on the road by 6:30. I had no idea of what it was going to look like where we were going, all I knew was a name: Chitwan, Nepal. I spent a couple of hours keeping myself busy and trying to nap on what would turn out to be the bumpiest bus ride I have ever taken thus far with no idea of how long we would be on the road for (something I have grown very used to on the Race.) We all expected the trip to round to about 10 hours and were incredibly relieved when the ride was cut short by about half of that time. I stepped off of the bus and honestly couldn’t have been more thankful for the change of scenery. God must have hand picked it for me. The buildings were kept to a minimum and there were fields as far as my eyes could see. I could hear silence for the first time in months and the part that I am most thankful for: it smelled like home. I am sure that some of my teammates were not appreciative of the smells coming from the combination of hay, farm animals and dirt but to me it was the biggest blessing.
We spent the week going from home to home giving messages and testimonies and playing with kids. We were fed incredible food and given tons of tea and cookies. We played games and my team spent time together and I had some of the best conversations I have had on the Race and some of the best laughs (mostly under the stars). There were elephants and rhinos and cows and chicken houses and bike riding and so so much growth. This week was perfectly crafted for me. I know that God sent us there for me. (Probably a couple of other reasons too, but mostly for me.) He knew I needed it. God shows us his love for us in so many ways and those ways tend to change depending on where you are at in life. For me, God knew that I needed a break from being in a city even if it was just for a little while. I needed some time to catch my breath, so he gave me a week. That’s all I needed. He gave me a week in the countryside of Nepal- away from the noise and the flashing lights and the crowds. I am so incredibly thankful for this week and so aware of how loving our God is.
