Some of my favorite blogs to read right now are the ones that Racers write as they finish their journey. I’ve seen a number of people compile questions from friends and family back home and then respond to it in a Q&A blog, and it is always so cool to read. It is so interesting to me – I feel like I can see the transformation in people who I don’t even know, just from reading about their perspective shift.
It makes me excited, because I so badly want that perspective shift in my own life. More than that, though, I really want to be able to properly recognize that perspective shift once it’s happened. Who knows what this next year will hold for me? I certainly do not, and the more expectations I try to fit in my backpack, the heavier my load will inevitably be. I don’t want map out my journey – the physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual parts of it – before I leave, but I do want a tangible starting point.
So I’m taking a leaf out of my predecessors’ book and shifting it. Welcome to my mini-Q&A blog: PreRace Edition. I’ll cover the basics of what people have been asking me, but if you have any other specific questions, comment on this post and I’ll update accordingly.
How are you doing? Haha, oh how I love this question. My older brother asked me the other day how my “emotional state is leading up to this endeavor.” I love it. Honestly, I’m kind of struggling in the interim of training camp and leaving. I have three weeks left at home and I feel like I’m pre-mourning and missing all of the people, places, and things that I’m leaving. Once I leave, I will have so many crazy things demanding my time and attention, but as of right now, I’m just sort of living in the understanding that I will be missing out on a LOT at home. That’s tough. So I’m doing okay right now. I’m scared to leave, but I’m ready to go, if that makes any sense.
What are you going to be doing in each country? I HAVE NO IDEA. There are approximately 17 million variables, not the least of which being the Holy Spirit’s leading. It varies by country, by squad, by team…ideally, I will have a general idea of what my team will be doing a month-ish before we get somewhere. (…but…when do things ever go ideally when we’re dealing with traveling and human planning??)
Where will you be in each country? Again, no clue. I’ll let you know when I get there 😉
What are you most excited about? I’m really excited to be the hands and feet of my support team, to be one person who represents so many more from home. I’m also super pumped to be able to report back to those same people through my blog. Aside from that, I’m obviously SO EXCITED to work with my team and my squad to bring Jesus to the hopeless and to make incredible memories at the same time.
What are you most nervous about? I’m nervous about my own expectations. I am trying my very hardest to abandon all expectations and “rights” that I have as an individual, but that is a really intricate, difficult task. So I’m nervous that I will be disappointed because of my own small-scale vision. Also, I’m VERY nervous about the supposedly inevitable weight gain throughout the year. NOT COOL, CARBOHYDRATES.
What do you think you’ll miss the most from home? I think that I’ll miss the casual, spontaneous days with my family the most. I’ve already processed through missing Christmas and my birthday and family vacations…but I will miss the random dinners and family parties and things that we do together. I’m also really going to miss fall in the Midwest and spring on my college campus. Those days were the best.
What country are you most excited for? I’m crazy out of my mind thrilled to go to India. I don’t fully understand why, but I just know that God is going to show up that month. I’m really excited to see how He builds on this [completely random and unexplainable] passion that I have for India specifically.
Are you scared for your safety? Psh, no. I go on the Lord’s business – what can man do to me? I have faith that God will protect my team and I, and that the safest place for me to be is in the center of His will.
If you have any other, more specific questions, please comment and let me know!
Next up…meet Team RADIANT!!!
