Happy New Year’s everyone! 2014 flew by for me. It was stocked full of so many things: graduating, being an intern, health problems, lots of Netflix… and that’s just the start to the list! For the last few days I have not only been reflecting on this past year, but on the year to come. 2015 will show me so many great adventures: a big girl job, walking across the stage (*real* graduation), training camp and meeting all of my squad for the WR and the actual start of The World Race. Wow. I can’t even begin to express the feelings that whirl up inside of me thinking about it all. This year is probably going to be one for the record books. Any who, during my reflections, I kept asking myself: What have I learned? One of my role models, Corrie ten Boom, once said, “Every experience that God gives us, every person that He puts in our lives is the perfect preperation for the future that only He can see.” There is so much truth in that – all of my experiences leave me with a hope that through them, I may glorify God. How cool is it that we are able to bring people to Christ or mend that gap by sharing our experiences with them? I love that God gave us that opportunity. It’s one of my favorites.
Without further ado, I give you a list of eleven things that happened to me in 2014 where I learned something and it helped to prepare me for 2015:
-
On January 25th and again on June 7th, I was a bridesmaid for the weddings of Rachael & Ben and Elisabeth & Nick – dear friends of mine. Rachael’s wedding was traditional while Elisabeth’s was much more laid-back. They were both great times of friendship, dancing, and excitement. I got to stand beside my friends as they married the love of their lives. It was beautiful. What did this teach me? First off, that I want a small wedding – haha! But seriously, it showed me the importance of love in my life. I’m not talking about romantic love – though there was lots of that expressed as the weddings (obvi). Friendship. Family. Commitment. All of those things show love. It can be overwhelming even. But if I have to be overwhelmed by something, why not is be something as perfect as love? 2015 is looming in the prospect of a lack of love: I moved a hundred miles back home away from all of my friends in Cincinnati. My love language is quality time. You may see a problem here… Yet, where I place importance, I place effort also. 2015 will be filled with lots of love. I know it. And now, I also know the importance of it.
-
On March 7, I stepped out of an airplane and onto Irish soil. I spent a few weeks in Northern Ireland on a mission trip with my school. It was my first time in an airplane, seeing the ocean (from said airplane), and traveling abroad. At that moment, as I stepped off, I fell in love. Maybe it was because I was so incredibly tired from a lack of sleep and I was becoming delirious, but I was on cloud nine. Experiencing the rich culture of Ireland, hanging out with kids there in the name of Jesus, and standing in *real* castles absolutely stole my heart. Ireland stills holds a special piece of me, but my eyes were opened to international missions. I learned the importance of self-reflection as I sat on top of a sand dune looking into the Irish Sea and how small I really am as I stared at mountains for the first real time in my life (shoutout to the Mourne Mountains). 2015 is going to be filled with self-reflection and feeling really small. How could it not? In July I set off on an adventure that is going to take me to 11 countries and to 4 continents. I’m going to be challenged in every way and experience vastly different cultures from my own. Northern Ireland was a test-run for my World Race in the sense that it exposed me to the world outside of my Mid-West USA bubble.
-
Later on in March, I had an amazing opportunity for just $30 bucks: Go see my UL Cardinals play in the Sweet Sixteen in Indianapolis. Even though that was a weekend filled with 4 stinky (just kidding) boys, I jumped on it. Fast forward lots of silly games and car rides, I sat in my noise bleeder seat at Lucas Oil Stadium as the UK Wildcats beat my Cards. How do I compare this rivalry? Hmm… Hatfield vs. McCoys. Coke vs. Pepsi. Athens vs. Sparta. Good vs. Evil. That is UL vs. UK. And as that rivalry became all the more clear as I rode down the escalator seeing the faces of upset UL fans and hearing the cheers of obnoxious UK fans, I learned the value of losing. I’m not sure how this is going to play into my life in 2015 specifically, but I keep in mind even the words of the great Howie Day: “Even the best fall down sometimes…”
-
Over the summer, I said goodbye to one of my best friends as he set off for his own adventure: to conquer the West. As he began this next chapter of his life, I felt like it was the end of the chapter of our friendship. Wow. That was incredibly cheesy to type but I gotta get the feels across to you. When fall and school came back around in August, it sucked even more. When someone who plays an important part in your life leaves – it changes you. This experience taught me lots of things. First, it taught me that people come and go – and that’s okay. This year, especially once the World Race starts, I’m going to meet so many amazing people each place. And the next month, I will be in a different country meeting new people. Life isn’t about making people stay when they begin to play an important part. It’s about appreciating, encouraging, and loving them while they’re there and when they leave. Being affected by people is common. Actually, it’s human. And it’s okay to be affected when they leave to. But by the grace of God, I’ll see them again someday on the other side of the veil.
-
During the summer of 2014, I interned for an amazing organization called BLOC that works with the people in Price Hill in Cincinnati. I had been volunteering with them since my freshman year at CCU, and when this opportunity came up, I prayed and then accepted. I had many responsibilities throughout the summer but the newest and most challenging aspect was working with a ministry called Weightless Anchor. It’s a women’s ministry in Lower Price Hill (the rougher part of the neighborhood) with specific outreach geared toward prostitutes. Perhaps the reason why this was the hardest aspect of my internship was because it was the most different for how I usually “do ministry”. I was interacting with the women of the community that were on the fringes. Every woman there had been abused in one way or another (many sexually, most emotionally) and in return, they abused drugs or alcohol. Mostly, I did a lot of laundry, watched Grease like twenty times, and built relationships with the ladies there. My “ministry skills” were stretched. My comfort level was reached and then stretched. My faith was stretched. Through all of that, I learned that this stretching is gonna happen. That uncomfortable factor is going to happen in ministry. I might as well embrace it and experience it. I already know all parts of me are going to be stretched when I leave in July – and I’m ready for it.
-
While I interned, I also lived “on my own” for the first time ever. There was no one there checking if my room was clean (I kept it pretty decent though, I think). No one was there telling me that I needed more cookies, and I sure didn’t have a meal plan for those three months. It was weird… I could have as many dirty clothes as I wanted and no one could force me or give me dirty looks in order for me to do my laundry. In all of that, I learned the importance lesson of initiative. No one was gonna buy my orange juice for me or vacuum my floor (I will admit, I can easily count on one hand how many times I vacuumed my room). In 2015, I am presented with many things to take initiative on. For instance, when am I finally going to book that flight to Atlanta? or when am I going to pack for training camp or to leave in July? Probably the day before but hopefully I take that whole ‘initiative’ thing seriously on those fronts this year.
-
2014 is the year of health issues. At the beginning of August, I had a major health complication. After spending a long evening in the hospital with my lovely best friend forever Erika at my side, I went home to Louisville for a week to go to lots of doctors and appointments and such. That week was one of the busiest of the summer for BLOC. Yet, my beautiful supervisor sent me home and took care of my Weightless shifts and everything else that I was to do. I was overwhelmed with how many people came around me and supported during that time. The big lesson learned: don’t underestimate the people around me. They are filled with love and compassion and I saw that clearly during that time. In 2015, I’m gonna need people (just like I have in every other year). I’m not invincible. And even more importantly, I’m not alone.
-
For my last semester at CCU, I moved into an off-campus house. Immediately, I felt cut off from campus activity. If you know me, you know what an extrovert I am. I thrive being around people. And during that time, I was anything but. I spent many afternoons and evenings in my room watching Netflix or doing homework when I could have just walked five minutes down the street to Hilltop, had a latte, and did my homework there. I learned a lot about myself in those months. I learned about my struggle with loneliness and my need for people. I learned the difference between being alone and feeling lonely. 2015 is a year that could be described as stripping me away from my friends in Cincinnati or it could be described as one that is opening the door for new relationships not to replace my old ones, but to become an addition to them.
-
I still remember the day that I began my application for the World Race. I remember very clearly the day that I got the call of being accepted. Wow, wow, wow. Now, here I am writing a blog on my own World Race blog site. I struggled a long time about what I was going to do come December and I was graduating. Was it gonna be straight to grad school? Or maybe AmeriCorps? Perhaps the Peace Corps? God provided answers to my “What next?” question when He revealed the World Race to me. What did I learn from this? The important lesson of prayer and guidance. I prayed a whole stinkin’ lot for some guidance on what to do. That’s pretty important even when you think you know what you’re going to do. Why is this important for me in 2015? Because even while I have my own plan, God has His own too. And God’s plan is the much better one that’s gonna happen anyway. It’s a timeless lesson.
-
During finals week, something momentous occurred. My final day at BLOC had finally come. A ministry that I have been involved with since I first came to CCU and even interned for, I was about to leave it. I remember playing foosball for the last time at McPherson. I remember missing another shot at the basketball goal, as usual. I remember saying bye to some kids that have certainly made their mark on me. It was surreal. It was difficult. It even made me cry on my way home. Through this, I learned that even great things come to an end. I love BLOC. I have so many memories from McPherson, Iliff, and Lower Price Hill. But my time there has come to an end. This year, there will be lots of changes. I’m a fan of change, typically. I’m always up for new challenges and adventures. But change can also be hard. Hopefully, what I have learned during my time at BLOC, will prove as useful to me as it was a blessing.
-
Finally, something super duper momentous happened in 2014: I graduated from college. Honestly, it has been a crazy three and a half years. Many highs and more than a few lows are littered throughout my time at CCU. December brought the end of my college career and the beginning to “real adult life”. That’s scary in itself. I have learned so many things with the end of college. For starters, *real* adulthood doesn’t seem to different from college-hood. But that’s probably because I don’t have rent or groceries to pay for (God bless, thanks Mom). But really, it’s taught me that I really can accomplishing something. Heck, I graduated early! I can start things and I can finish them. I have that ability. What a lesson to learn! In 2015, I’m gonna start lots of new things. There will be lots of things that are scary, I’m sure. But even in the scariness, I can do things. I can accomplish things.
If you have stuff with this to the end, kudos to you. This is longer than half the essays that I have written. I have learned so many things from my experiences in 2014. And I am so ready to learn many more things this year. 2015 is going to be a year of adventure, that’s for sure.
love,
Brittany
