It's been exactly one month since my last blog! I am so sorry for that. A lot has happened since returning home and it's been crazy! Here's an quick update of how my first month after the Race at home has been…
I arrived in New York City on July 29th. My cousin Ryan was currently on assignment there for work and so we were able to spend the evening together. It was great to see him and hear about his year since he moved to Washington DC and was doing all sorts of new and exciting things.
New York City is probably not the first place I would choose to go after an 11-month mission trip. As some of you know, it's crazy there! Times Square, the airport, the malls, the roads – it's all overwhelming. I think that I was a little more prepared for the reverse culture shock than most people since I've been through it multiple times. Still it was a little tough.
I left for Denver the next morning. I arrived in the afternoon and ate dinner with my mom, brother, and best friend, Tommy. It was great to reunite and talk with them about the trip. I found myself vaguely answering questions and not really telling many stories which is not what I expected. I realized that I might actually need some processing time.
During the Race, my dad took a job in Wyoming out of a need for a job. He lives in Wyoming full-time and tries to come home as often as he can. Needless to say, this has been very hard for him and my mom. The first weekend I was home, my mom and I headed up to Wyoming to hang out with him. It happened to be the weekend of his company picnic, so we even got free food (that's a wonderful thing for a Racer)! I was asked by my dad's pastor, Mike, to speak on Sunday real quickly about my trip. I don't like public speaking and I knew I'd have to do it at some point, but this seemed really fast. Reluctantly, I agreed.
I was called up on Sunday and gave a little 5-10 minute talk about my trip. I realized while I was up there that I had less than one minute to devote to each country. The theme of the sermon was that God is everywhere, so I tried to focus on that.
I had a revelation while talking up there that I have an insane amount of stories. Things I've witnessed or seen, heard about from squad mates or contacts, read about – the list goes on. God is EVERYWHERE.
Since that church service, I've been praying a lot about what God wants me to get out of the Race – what I need to process and learn looking back on the most wonderful 11 months I may have ever had. Life has been busy and it's been tough, but I'm trying.
Fast forward two weeks and I'm on a plane heading to Georgia to be reunited with most of the amazing people that I was honored to have traveled around the world with. Our squad had a special party before the official Project Searchlight began. It was great fun and awesome fellowship. We played games, hung out at the lake, went to coffee shops for Jesus time, and ate meals together. Talk about an awesome group of people that love Jesus with all their hearts. I am so impressed by each and every one of them.
I left Searchlight a few days early to go to Tommy's family reunion in California. They didn't know I was coming so it was fun to surprise them because I haven't seen most of them for five years or so. Interacting with them and seeing how much God had changed their lives over the past years was one of the coolest things that I've seen since I've been home.
That brings me to today – exactly one month since I returned home. It's actually a coincidence that I am writing this right now. I had no intentions of blogging today and yet, here I sit.
Lots has happened since I've been home. I was offered a job in Gainesville, Georgia with Adventures in Missions. I'd be working under my former alumni squad leader, Seth Barnes Jr, and helping with a lot of discipleship and apprenticeship within AIM. I think it's a wonderful opportunity full of potentinal for growth and a deepening of relationship for him. I am still prayerfully considering whether it's the path God wants me to take or if He has something else in mind.
I'm also still pursing flight training. I went on a discovery flight, which is step one of the process, a few weeks ago and loved it! My flight instructor is awesome and I think we'll work well together. God is still affirming in my life that I need to fundraise the money for flight school so I'm working on getting all of that squared away.
I'll be having a "hear about the World Race" evening one of these days, just not sure when yet. I'll keep you guys up to speed as things develop.
Thank you again and again and again for all your love and support over the past year. I couldn't have done it without the support and encouragement of all of you!
