I’m Alive, I Promise!

I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your patience with me regarding my lack of blogging this past month. For those of you that I haven't been in direct contact with, I’ve literally been off the grid since the end of June. That’s been an adventure in itself—I’ve been to 12 states in the past month and a half (Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida), and without a laptop or internet connection in most of them (by the way, this is a HUGE prayer need…I still don’t have a laptop and it would be a huge blessing to have one before I leave so I can keep in contact with you all and my family on the Race), and without a working phone in most as well. I promise I’m not being intentionally neglectful, and I’m overjoyed to share with you all everything that God’s been doing in my life during this time.

There’s so much to say, that this is just going to have to be a series of “catching up,” so I want to talk here like I would if we were catching up at a local coffee shop or something. It breaks my heart to think that I won’t have the time before I leave to be able to do this with each and every one of you like I want to. Luckily I have some entries written in my journals that I’m going to share with you all, so you’ll be able to see a candid glimpse into what training camp looked like for me. In addition, I’ll be continuing my series on the snapshots of the countries that we’ll be serving in, so you all will be able to see firsthand what research I’ve been doing and how God’s preparing me for each place. Also, I want to do another post about my personal FAQs regarding the Race, so please comment any questions you have if you want me to answer anything for you about the next 11 months.

My next month looks like this: I have one day in Redmond with my family before I leave for the weekend to go to three (yes, three) weddings in Oregon and Washington. Monday, the 13^th, I’ll be back in Pullman working 40-hour weeks and planning a garage sale, and I’ll be back at the end of those two weeks. Then I have a couple days in Redmond; my brother Michael has been in Nairobi the past month and gets back on the 31^st, then I leave on the 2^nd for Chicago, where our launch is. This is a HUGE blessing because this means I get to see my grandparents and some family before I leave. Then I have a leadership training (oh yeah, I’m leading a team by the way…more on this later), and we leave for Africa on the 5^th. It’s incredibly overwhelming but sweet at the same time. While I’m working in Pullman I’d like to try to Skype with anyone who wanted to meet up too…so please email me if you want to catch up face-to-face! I love you all.

Some prayer requests:

• that God would make the time between now and September 2^nd stretch, and that I’d get everything done and be as prepared as possible before launch
   
• that I wouldn’t lose my focus on Him and why I’m doing all of this
   
• for my squadmates and beautiful teammates, for unity and faith and against any fear or doubt that might build in us
   
• for our squad leaders, that they might have clarity of God’s will and be empowered to pour into us and lead us into the next 11 months
   
• for all my squadmates who are not funded yet to launch—here are their names and blog websites if you’re interested in supporting them!
                  -April Kenton (one of my teammates!!) – aprilkenton.theworldrace.org
                  -Katie Noble (another one of my teammates!!) – katienoble.theworldrace.org
                  -Mark Hengst – markhengst.theworldrace.org
                  -Lindsey Darnell – lindseydarnell.theworldrace.org
                  -Cory Merman – corymerman.theworldrace.org
                  -Sharisse Meyer – sharissemeyer.theworldrace.org
                  -Erin Shepherd – erinshepherd.theworldrace.org
                  -Anna Primrose – annaprimrose.theworldrace.org
                  -Liz Monroe – lizmonroe.theworldrace.org
                  -Adam Mollica – adammollica.theworldrace.org
                  -Keyasha Johnson – keyashajohnson.theworldrace.org
                  -Ashley Brandt – ashleybrandt.theworldrace.org
                  -Lauren Lee – laurenlee.theworldrace.org
   
• As for me, I have about $7500 left to go, but I have enough to launch so please donate to my squadmates mentioned above! However, if you all would pray for a laptop and good backpack to come my way that would be incredible…I think those are the two major things that I’m in need of so your prayers would mean a lot to me :).

Thank you all for everything!