I turned a quarter century two days ago. Most of the day was spent travelling, but I am blessed to be able to say that we made it to our first ministry site without too much complication. More to come on that later, but for now, in honor of my twenty-fifth, I thought I’d start out this journey with twenty-five things I’m going to miss back home (pt. 1), and twenty-five things I am anticipating for the next year (pt. 2).
Here’s what I’m going to miss, in no particular order:
- My family living fifteen minutes away.This is not at all the first time I’ve left my home town, and not even the first time I’ve been out of the country for several months at a time. However, each time I leave, I realize all over again how much I love spending time with my parents and sister, and how much I take for granted these years I’ve gotten to spend as an adult still living close by.
- My couch.Make fun of me all you want, but living on a couch in different friends’ living rooms for the last three years has not been as bad as it sounds. Honestly, it’s gotten me ready for the complete lack of personal space I’m going to have all of this year. When I’m spending the night in my tent in the middle-of-nowhere Africa, I’ll probably be longing for that living situation back.
- Trivia nights. Almost every week for the last six years, my friends and I go out to dinner and play bar trivia. At first it was just a fun way to kill an evening every week and put off doing homework, but after graduation it turned into the only time we saw each other between all of our busy schedules. I’m going to miss the people, and the consistency.
- My schedule.I have always been one to plan out every minute of every day, and it’s pretty normal for my weekends to be booked out months in advance. I love my schedule, my plans, and most importantly, my control. By going on the Race this year, control is one of the biggest things I’m going to have to learn to let go of. I’m seeing that already in my first ministry, as plans here are made day by day instead of laid out all ahead of time.
- The Wanless Family. Over the last four months, I’ve spent a lot of time with Steve, Trena, and their kids. Sometimes I felt like a homeless man they adopted off the street because every evening I spent there they started offering me food, even when I wasn’t planning on being there for dinner. Of course, I never turned it down. My pantry at home was pretty embarrassing. I’m going to miss spending time with them, and the conversations we had over so many meals.
- The Jamaica Crew. These friends have become like a family to me ever since we met in Jamaica three years ago. The weekends we spend together are the highlights of my year, and I know the get-togethers won’t stop while I’m gone. Even though it’s a drive across the state, I never miss a chance to make memories with them. It’s going to be weird seeing these from the outside all year.
- My desk job. If you’ve spent any amount of time with me at all, you know I don’t see my future in a cubicle all day every day. I had to start somewhere, though, and the job I had at Partners International for the last three years was a wonderful jumping-off point. I truly will miss the Kingdom work I got to do there, and the friendships I formed when we probably should have all been working a little harder.
- My car. Ask any of my friends about this, and they’ll probably recount a near-death experience or five that they experienced in this vehicle. They could tell you stories of accidents, tickets, and road trips all over the west coast, and of all the times we got lost looking for trailheads outside of cell service areas. Too many memories to count, and even though it wasn’t that great, it lasted me a good seven years before I finally sold it last month.
- The PNW.I love where I grew up. Seriously, I do. The Pacific Northwest as a whole was a beautiful place to call home, and it’s weird to think that when this is all over I will probably never live there long-term again. From the mountain hikes to the river kayak trips, it had everything I needed to learn to appreciate and explore God’s creation. I’ve been there too long though, and I think it’s finally time to move on.
- Being alone.As the most extroverted extrovert you’ll probably ever meet, my constant focus was having people around to spend time with, always. You’d think, then, that the World Race and living in constant community would be like a dream. It is, for the most part. However, I learned at camp that even I have a breaking point, and over the next year I’m going to need to learn to pull away and recharge, even if I have to go out of my way for the opportunity.
- Fast food. One of my many weak spots. I took way too many lunch breaks at McDonalds and Taco Bell, and relied way too heavily on fast food in general to get me through my busy days. That is not going to be available this year as an option, and I’m probably going to be all the better for it. We will either be cooking for ourselves on a limited budget, or our hosts will be providing all our meals. Either way, this transition is to my benefit.
- Half Hour Showers. A lot of this list is modern conveniences. I need to get over it. My first ministry host for the year has showers available, but no hot water. When everything is freezing, you try and get out as quick as possible. It’s far from the relaxing experience I’m used to.
- Teaching Sunday School.Yes, I’ll probably get to do this on the Race in some capacity. I’m already scheduled to start leading a VBS program all throughout this week. However, I served in the K-2 room at my church for two years, and I’m gonna miss that team and those kids I got to minister to every week.
- Calli visiting me at work.I am lucky enough to be close friends with my sister. We got along great, once we both moved out. Several times a week, when she needed a break or was just bored, she’d come bring me Dutch Bros at work. Those were honestly some of the highlights of my week, and I’m going to miss the times we got to spend together.
- Inside Jokes.Obviously, spending time with a group of forty people for a year will develop this on its own. But I’m talking about the jokes that go back years, to the point where no one even remembers where they came from. As excited as I am about the year ahead and the relationships that will come out of that, I’m leaving behind the friends that know me the best, and have known me the longest.
- Wardrobe Options.Another of these modern conveniences I’ve had to leave behind. Everything that I’m wearing for the year was packed into two packing cubes last week, leaving me with only about a week’s worth of clothes (or two weeks if I’m feeling lazy). I’m probably gonna get bored of the lack of variety by month three or four.
- Concerts.One of my favorite pastimes. In the months leading up to the Race, several of my favorite bands announced tours that would be going on while I was away, and I’m only a little upset I won’t be there for them. I’m still crossing my fingers that Switchfoot adds a European leg to their tour towards the end of the year while I’m there.
- Nerf gun fights at work.Sometimes work got boring and tedious. It does for everyone. But the friends that I had there, especially over the last few months, kept everything fun and exciting. I don’t miss the job. I miss the people. My last day of work was a much more emotional goodbye than I anticipated it being.
- Road trips. I left Spokane almost every weekend to drive across the state. On long weekends, I went even further. The freedom I had to hop in my car and go wherever I wanted is gone, at least temporarily, and there’s no more planning for the next weekend trip to visit friends. I’ll have a lot to catch up on when I get back.
- Greg. My roommate put up with so much of my crap. We lived together for over a year leading up to my departure for the Race, and sometimes I can’t believe he let me stay that long. I’ll miss our late-night conversations, even though they were mostly ridiculous and unimportant.
- Big events. I’m missing at least three weddings this year, and it’s likely there will be a couple more as the months go on. I’m missing Easter and Thanksgiving, which are always great times I get to spend with my family. Those times, I think, will be when being away from home is the hardest for me.
- My small group. I questioned whether I should join a new small group four months before I left, but they ended up turning into one of my best support systems. I know for a fact they will be praying for me throughout my journey this year, and they made it very clear that just because I was leaving did not mean I was no longer a part of their group.
- English. I went to a church service last night and realized just how rusty my Spanish had gotten. Following the music was fine, but the sermon was too much. I was able to pull out the main points, but that’s about it. I have three months to relearn as much as I can, but when we move on from South America in April, the language barrier is really out of my hands. It’s one of the biggest things I’ll need to give over to God this year, along with my desire for control.
- All my TV shows. I’ll be the first to admit that I am invested in way too many shows. I’ve cut back over the last couple months with how busy I’ve been, but this year is gonna be an even bigger stretch. Along with all the other modern conveniences on this list, giving this up really is to my benefit. Cutting back on all the distractions will give me more time for focus on my relationship with God, and the reasons I signed up for this in the first place.
- Apathy. At home, this is all my faith was, most of the time. Here on the Race, there is no room for that. The things I’ll see and experience will make this feeling near impossible, and I am so excited to learn to leave this behind and dig deeper into my faith than I ever have before. God has a lot to teach me, and I’ve been putting off learning for far too long.
