What is normal life?

Goal: Relocate to a small village in Northern Israel and work with a local church; cleaning, praying, sharing, and teaching.

Dilemma: How do you get seven girls with seven huge backpacks across Israel with limited funds and means of transportation?

This is not an unusual occurrence on the World Race, and so with some creative thinking we made it work. One minivan stuffed with four girls and all the team’s belongings, three girls on four different public buses, and eight long hours later we all arrive safely to our destination in Galilee.

Little did we know we would be living on the side of a steep mountain in an empty house with two sets of bunk beds, no heat, and a very limited supply of running water; the situation being both a blessing and a curse. Having a quiet house – no scratch that, seven loud girls in an empty building creates quite an echo effect – so just having a place of our own was definitely something to be thankful for, no matter what the circumstance. More personal space is always welcomed on the race! And although we froze the first night, God provided and we were able to get three space heaters. On top of that, we also acquired some furniture to fill the openness. So what looked like a bleak situation God totally redeemed. We still have issues with the water, but we make it work. No more showers, only flushing the toilet when absolutely necessary, and keeping pots constantly filled with water is just part of our routine now. I will never forget the feeling of turning the faucet on and nothing coming out; realizing that we used up all the water until the next day when they would turn it on again for two hours.

It was on one of these days when we ran out of water that I sat on the cold hard floor to journal away my frustration. Life on the race is just NOT normal… but, then, maybe it is for some people and maybe that’s what we are here to learn; to experience life in a whole new way and with a different perspective. Although I may not be accustomed to running out of water or going to sleep without a warm bed, this IS normal life for some people all over the world. Sometimes I laugh and sometimes I cry at the predicaments we find ourselves thrown into on the race, and then I am humbly reminded that this was my choice. And that’s the key: I chose to live this way for a year, but not everyone gets to make that decision.