Last night my dad and I went to REI. After spending a while lying on the concrete floor testing sleeping pads, I took one home to try it out. I cleared a space on my floor to watch the Thermarest ProLite Plus in action. It's supposed to be self-inflating, meaning that when you open its valve, it will magically blow itself up (I mean inflate, not self destruct) into a surprisingly luxurious 1.5-inch thick mattress that will be my bed for much of next year. That is, if it inflates. I'm studying it, and it's not doing much.
Things like that make the World Race feel more and more real. I have a drawer in my room labeled "WR" where I've been stashing things I might take with me: Tide pens, a big blank journal, decks of cards, my head lamp. Training camp is fast approaching in October. My first financial deadline on September 27 is now less than a month away, and I only need a little more than $1000 to make it to that first $3500, which will allow me to go to training camp. I've been doing some sole-searching as I try to think which three pairs of shoes I should bring. And then there's the way my calendar is empty starting New Year's Day, 2014.
These things are all incredibly exciting. I know that on the World Race, this life I'm preparing to step into will become normal. But right now it is all new, and that is exhilarating.
It's also scary. So I'd like to share The Nervous List with you, an ever-evolving catalog of the things about World Race that scare me. I invite you to read each one, pray over it, offer me advice, and laugh, because all are helpful.
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Getting shots
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Meeting my fundraising deadlines
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Long, claustrophobic bus and plane rides, on which this taller-than-average girl won't have legroom
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Not being able to lie down to sleep (on my self destructing sleeping pad) on those long, claustrophobic journeys. I've been googling how to sleep sitting up, but haven't had much help from the internet. The Wikihow is pretty much what you'd expect: http://www.wikihow.com/Sleep-While-Sitting-Up
- Living near the Equator. I'm from the Pacific Northwest. I'm good at gentle showers and 70 degree summers. Living in New York for school was hard enough. Now what have I gotten myself into?
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Getting sick (though that fear has been partially alleviated: see http://chelseagreenwood.theworldrace.org/?filename=vomo-ere-ui-itus)
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Eating gross things, which in my book is anything with cilantro or peanut butter.
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Losing my Nook and all the precious literature I'm uploading to it (by the way, if you have a book recommendation, send it my way! Mission-related or not, Christian or not, I'll be curious!)
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Ticks
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Not shaving my legs and getting ticks in my leg hair
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Experiencing passionate boredom toward my clothes
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Falling in love with my team of Racers, only to go through a team change halfway through the Race
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Something bad happening to my family back home
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Missing out on weddings and birthdays and my sister's high school graduation
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The shock of returning to America at Christmas time
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Not making the most of the time given to us
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Forgetting Jesus and expecting the World Race to be some sort of self help: becoming a missionary won't make me a follower of Jesus. Only Jesus can do that.
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Goodbyes. Saying goodbye to my family and friends here in January, uprooting every month for a new country, and the final goodbyes to my team at the end of the year.
Stay tuned for The Excited List, coming soon! And things are looking up on the sleeping pad front. It seems to have subtly expanded in the last twenty minutes or so. I guess Thermarest knows what it's doing. Let's hope this is the beginning of a long, happy relationship.
As always, if you would like to become a supporter, you can click the Support Me! tab on the left side of your screen and move me closer to my first goal of $3500- any amount is appreciated! And second, if you'd rather not subscribe to this blog, you are totally free to unsubscribe.
Thanks for reading, and grace and peace to you!
