Hey guys! Earlier this week I had requested that people asked me questions about the race and my life. This weeks blog will be answering those questions. Here we go!
“What is something that has made you stop in your tracks and think, this is what heaven is going to be like?”
- The thing that comes to mind when I read this question, is just having the opportunity to go to church/worship with the people of Swaziland. Life here is pretty tough, so with that being said, it heavily encourages them to rely on the Lord and not themselves. Through that, they find true joy, strength, and love in him which results in a deep relationship with the Lord. When you gather a group of them to worship the lord it’s such an absolutely beautiful thing to be a part of.
“What’s the most challenging thing about the race?”
- I personally think that one of the most challenging aspects about the race so far has been living in community with 49 other people from super different backgrounds and family cultures. It has been challenging but it’s a testament of how the lord uses just about anything to teach us things.
“What is the most rewarding thing so far on the race?”
- One of our ministries here is working at a care-point where tons of local kids are able to attend a preschool, play on the playground and get fed a hardy meal. Walk to the care-point, be a human jungle gym for a few hours, teach a bible lesson, serve food and leave. It’s an insane amount of fun, it’s pretty simple too. After a few weeks of doing that every day I found myself questioning how I could possibly see the fruit of my work at these care-points when all I do is play with young kids who don’t even speak my language. After a few days of my poor attitude, one of my squad mates approached me and told me that she had just had a conversation with a woman and she had mentioned that her children attended a care-point. Through my squad mates conversation with her, she figured out that it was my teams care-point and the mom explained her thankfulness for us being there and pointing her children towards Christ. Despite my unneeded bad attitude I still was able to see great fruit in what we were doing there.
“What has been your favorite part of the race so far?”
- My favorite part of the race so far has been growing so much more in who I am through Christ and who he sees me as instead of the negatively tainted view of ourselves it’s so easy to have. I’ve also really enjoyed hanging out with my team because it’s never a dull moment with those goons.
“What is it like over there?”
- Swaziland, I truly love it here. The people are amazing, so welcoming and loving. The weather is great, it’s hot most days but cools down significantly at night or when it’s rainy. It’s a lot slower than the states but it’s forced me to slow down and live in the moment a lot more. All in all it’s lovely.
“What made you want to go?” And “So why’d you choose to do this world race thing?” (Put them together because they kinda go hand in hand)
- Honestly at first I really didn’t want to, I thought I had my plans for the next year set in stone. Go to community college, continue the landscaping business and work towards my dream of becoming a career firefighter. When it was mentioned to me, the idea of the race was compelling and I had always kinda thought a gap year would be cool but it was still not enough to make me drop my plans. Deep down I felt like I should be applying but couldn’t explain why. I found myself in tears multiple times because I just felt so torn between what I wanted to do and what I felt like the Lord was telling me to do. A few months later I found myself scrolling through social media accounts of people who were racing at the time. All I could think about was how much I just felt like I should be doing something before I started getting my life moving. I talked with my parents about just applying to see what the Lord had in store for me, so I applied. When I got in I prayed a lot about what Would be honoring to the Lord and ultimately ended up making the decision to lay aside the things I had planned for myself and be obedient. I’m now a huge advocate for a gap year so hit me up if you have any questions!!
“Best food?”
- South. African. McDonalds… they got a MEAN spicy chicken sandwich that definitely took a few minutes off my life but as my wise friend Caleb Mitchell always says, “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there” #noragrets
“What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned so far?”
- The importance of having a quiet time and recharging so I can stay well enough to go serve others.
“What’s one thing you miss the most?”
- having a car and the ability to drive to go get some taco bell with the boys. #adventuresinwarrenton?
Thank you to everyone who participated and asked questions! GOD BLESS!!
