That thing I thought was never going to end. The thing I spent months preparing for and nine months doing. The thing that made my life an emotional roller coaster. The thing that we call the world race is now over. Im done. At times I thought this day would never come. But it did. Im back in the states, Im home.
Everytime someone asks me how my trip was the only possible answer I can think to give is, “Imagine every possible emotion good and bad, then pack that into nine months along with a ton of new people and a whole lot of God.” Because honestly I don’t know how else to describe it.
At times I hated it. One day I actually looked up plane tickets because I wanted to go home so badly, not because I missed home but because I actually hated the race at that moment. Other times I couldn’t have imagined a better place to be. Like I said, EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER!
My lowest points were a combination of AIM being unorganized (no organization is perfect), a negative atmosphere, and a bad attitude. All of which could have been avoided. But I will say even when we all seemed to be messing up God still used it. Wether it was to teach patience, or forgiveness or self reflection or even just to bring glory to his name. God used all of it.
God gave me some of the greatest joys over these past months. The love he has for us, the squad of strangers who then became family, the sweet gesture of friendship with a local. I could go on and on. I am forever thankful for these. I have also gone through some harder things on this trip. Learning to love the people who are hard to love, seeing poverty unlike I had ever imagined, getting my heart ripped out by orphans and having to say goodbye to so many people I came to love. And these moments, I am far more thankful for. These were the ones that grew me and stretched me. The ones that helped me love better and brought me closer to God. These are the moments I will never forget.
And now Im home, back with first world luxuries like air conditioning and hot showers and people I’ve known for years. When I first came back I felt out of place. I felt distant. And that wasn’t anyones fault but my own. It was familiar feeling,the same feeling I had when I first began my race. I felt like I wasn’t myself and thats because I wasn’t being myself. Much like when I first started the race I was worried about what everyone else was thinking when I got home. I didn’t want to talk to new people, tried to avoid people in public and was doing things based of of how others would react. And I hated it. I was miserable until I stopped focusing on everyone else and began to focus on God. Now I can honestly say Im happy to be home. Sad to have left so many people I love but happy to see others, happy to start a new season, happy to see what God has in store.
So heres to this new season. May it be ten times more abundant than the last, let it push me and break me, let it be the best one yet. I know God has a lot coming. I know this next season will be even more incredible because thats who he is. And not incredible by our humanly standards but by his, because he knows and understands far more than I ever will.
Thank you for reading, praying and supporting me through this journey. You’ve done more than you know! I love you all. Goodbye.
