- Was the Race much different than your original expectations?
Well considering I half expected the Race to be this nine month period of time where I would only ever be playing with kids and praying over old people and every day I would wake up refreshed by the thought that today held some great big adventure in store for me, yes. Don’t get me wrong it was an adventure, the greatest one of my life so far, but it was still oddly normal. I still had to go grocery shopping, more than I ever had at home really. I still had days when I woke up and was immediately in a bad mood. And I missed home like no other. But, the World Race awakened me to dreams I’d never dreamt, questions I’d never asked, and expectations I’d never thought to expect. So yes, the Race was much more different than what I expected it to be, but I’m grateful for that.
- What was the biggest lesson you learned this year?
Oh geez, this is the question that I’m scared of people asking when I come home, not because I didn’t learn anything, because I learned a lot, too much really. In Albania I learned just how hard, but oh so sweet living in such intense community could be. In the Philippines I learned how to better love myself and extend myself grace and forgiveness. In South Africa I learned how to give it my all and then some. Overall I’ve learned how to better discern the voice of the Lord, how to make fries, how to be more independent, and a popped sleeping pad is not the end of the world (but you will be sore in the morning).
- What was your best day on the Race?
It was either one of the days that I got to do ministry with parents during the Parent Visions Trip. Let me tell you the story of how we reunited. I had ordered an Uber to take me from the airport after flying from Tacloban to Manila to their hotel. I didn’t tell them I was coming, we weren’t supposed to meet up until the next day when PVT actually started. So as I pulled up to their hotel, much to my surprise they were waiting outside. I thought for a second that they had found out I was coming some how, but I hoped the bored look on my dad’s face and utter lack of excitement on my mom’s meant otherwise. I froze in the back seat, there had been so much anticipation leading up to this moment, and they seemed to be staring right out me. I hopped out and started running, leaving all my bags in the car. My dad’s face immediately lit up and when my mom realized just who was running to them arms wide open she started yelling, “I don’t understand! How did you get here!” and her eyes filled with tears. After the initial hugging and wide smiles, my dad pointed at the Uber I’d came in and said, “Is that the car you came in?” I glanced back quickly and said, “Yeah, why?” He looked at me and smiled when he said, “That’s the one that was coming to pick up your mom and I.” The rest of that week went something like that initial Uber experience. I was surprised by just how brave my parents were and I think they were taken aback by just how much I’d grown.
- What was your hardest day?
I think my hardest day was my birthday (boo). I missed home a bit yeah, not really anymore than any of the other days, but I was also battling one of the worst migraines I’d ever had and had some weird staph like infection of my arm. That entire week, which was also Christmas week, I barely ate anything and spent most of my time sleeping to weak from whatever was on my arm and the pounding in my head to do much more than sit up. Luckily after a visit to the hospital and a strict antibiotic routine the infection vanished (well besides the scars it left on my arm) and the longest continuous migraine I’d ever had ceased. I am still a little bummed that my nineteenth birthday was so dull, but New Year’s Eve a few days later with bottles of sparkling grape juice and a view to the most fantastic (and illegal) fireworks I’ve ever seen.
- What was your favorite country and why?
Oooh, I don’t want to pick favorites, but what the heck, I will. South Africa! In this country I experienced the coolest encounters with God and greatest adventures (I’m currently sitting in a hostel in Muizenburg watching surfers tear it up at the beach). It was in this country that my heart was opened to the beauty of listening prayer, the thought of which terrified me in the beginning, but now I know it’s basically a hotline to the Lord, all you have to do is listen. I loved my team’s ministry here, being a Phys. Ed. teacher was actually pretty fun. And our adventure days took the cake, from safaris to rugby games, surfing and then shark cage diving (and in that order for a very specific reason).
- What did you miss most from home and why? What did you think you would miss but didn’t?
I think any racer would tell you family and friends, so I’ll give you another answer (though family and friends is definitely what I missed the most). I think it was probably a different kind of independence than the kind I gained this year. The kind of independence that let me go for a drive when I was overwhelmed and rollerblading at three in the morning (a common occurrence at the end of my senior year, sorry mom and dad). Traveling abroad it’s best to always go places in groups, especially as a girl, it’s also a World Race rule that we always have at least one person with us if not two. But sometimes I just wanted to go sit somewhere by myself or take a walk without someone else there. But pushing past my initial (uncalled for) annoyance of always having someone by side I realized just how beautiful that is.
- What do you think will be the most difficult thing to adjust to coming back?
I think it will be exactly what I complained about in question six, always having someone with me. There were only two times I was ever physically alone on the Race, both times I was napping at home (hehe). I think going home and having entire days where I’m running errands or just doing life by myself, without my World Race family is going to be extremely difficult. I’m tearing up now thinking about it, it’s scary making a transition this big. But the one guy who was with me before the Race and during the Race will be with me afterwards too, and He’s all I need.
- Where on the Race did you feel the greatest presence of God? The least?
I think this Race overall has been the season in which I’ve felt God like I never had before, but the Philippines was where it really lifted off for me. I committed to a Bible reading plan with which I would read the Bible cover to cover once and the New Testament once more. I’d never done this before and found that really digging into scripture answered a lot of the questions I had and soothed some doubts as well. Listening prayer was another door that was opened to me on the Race and it’s something that has had some really cool fruit come out of it. If you’re interested about what listening prayer is or how I do (because everyone does it differently) I’d love to talk about it with you.
- When was a time that you couldn’t stop laughing?
Oh Lordy, any time I was hanging out with my teammate Isaac (or Ziko) and we started laughing about something small it would quickly turn into a 10 or 20 minute laughing attack for both of us. He thought my laugh was funny and I thought his was hilarious. We would never be able to stop to breath or explain what we were laughing about in the first place. There was one night where he was watching me fold laundry and started giggling because I couldn’t seem to figure out how to turn the shirt inside out and once he started laughing I think I laughed for a solid thirty minutes after that. It was one of those you-had-to-be-there moments.
10. What was your most embarrassing moment on the Race?
The moment I realized I hit rock bottom. This was taken a 2pm, I’d just woken up.
