https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNysdb7D-lQ
Where am I from?
I have spent my whole life growing up beside the Fox River in De Pere, Wisconsin. Other places I might be apt to call home include:
- Minocqua, Wisconsin – where I have spent all of my most favorite summers
- Stevens Point, Wisconsin – where I graduated from college
- Valladolid, Spain – where I studied Spanish
- Rosedale, West Virginia – where I lived in the most beautiful hills for a summer
- Lexington, South Carolina – where I lived and worked and found family for a year
How did I find out about the World Race?
Way back in 2011 my best friend from high school, Kelly DeCaster, spent her first year out of college on this amazing journey and I have dreamed about it ever since. My older sister, Kristen Bennett, also joined the World Race family, completing her Race in 2013.
What is my faith story?
My faith story begins with my incredible parents who took me to church as a young girl and taught me about a man named Jesus. I recall my dad reading Bible stories to my sisters and me as well as teaching us how to pray. As for my mother, she was and still is, the greatest physical representative of the unconditional love of Jesus Christ I have ever known.
My dad prayed with me one night at Living Hope Church, when I was six years old. It was then and there that I invited Jesus to be my best friend and live in my heart. Subsequently, that is who He has been and where He has lived ever since – although at times I have kept Him there very small.
My pure and child like faith was real and alive for quite sometime. However, as I grew older my eyes saw more of the world, my ears heard more of the world, and my Faith slowly and somewhat unknowingly began to slip out from underneath me. Towards the end of my high school years, a series of disappointments revealed to me that I had allowed my identity to become wrapped up in my achievements, in my success and failures, and in the approval of others. I had begun to find my identity in the gifts rather than the Giver of the Gifts. And because I had done so, when these disappointments came and I was “stipped” of my giftings, I had nothing to stand on. I became nothing. I saw myself first as a failure and second as unworthy of any kind of love – let alone Love Himself.
Thus, as I left for college, I found myself at the bottom of a dark pit – full of lies and far from the arms of the Father. I found my days to be exhausting. Overwhelmingly I spent them treading to keep my head above the sea of lies that were crushing my soul. My life became a day to day game of survival. And, in a floundering effort to find “rest,” regain control, and earn back the love I felt I had lost in light of all the failing, I began to engage in the addiction that is an eating disorder.
I started trying to fix what was broken by pursuing a thinner me. I entered into the lie that all would be well again, when I finally looked a certain way. I discovered a false comfort in the eating disorder as focusing on food/exercise distracted me from the pain I was feeling inside. I found false freedom in the eating disorder as the “highs” of being completely stuffed or extremely starved provided for short bursts of numbness. I stumbled upon false senses of power and control as I became the ultimate authority on how much food was allowed to enter my body and how long it was allowed to stay there. I let the way I felt about the way my body looked tell me who I was. Ultimately, I let my relationship with the eating disorder replace my relationship with God.
I had fallen so far from the Love of the Father. I had forgotten so completely the identity that God has given to me. I had embraced, rather fully, all of the false hope, false comfort, and false freedom the eating disorder invited me into.
However, like the story of Christ on the Cross, my story is not one that ends in death and destruction. By the grace of God, it is a story of life and resurrection and a God who pursues His sons and daughters relentlessly. It is a story of a God who sat with me in the pit of an eating disorder for many many years. It is a story of a God who allowed me the time and space to come to the very very end of myself over and over and over again. And, it is a story of a God who received me with open arms and condemnation free at the very moment when I once again was able to recognize my deep and unending need for His sustaining Grace, Hope, and Love.
It is a story of a God who still sits with me now as we continue to refine, repair, and restore what was broken. John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” This verse has proved true in my life. The devil most certainly came into my life. He stole from me joy. He destroyed my hope. He killed my spirit. BUT THE LORD ALSO CAME! And I still am finding that the more that I say yes to Him, the fuller my life becomes.
What is my family story?
My family story is one of fierce love. My mother, born to a norwegian nurse and a retired naval officer, is very much a scandinavian woman in the way that she loves both the outdoors and people. My father, born to an artistic phys ed teacher and hardworking business man, knows both how to play hard and work hard. My parents met in college and have sustained a marriage of thirty-one years founded on a common spirit for adventure and love of the outdoors.
My father, a successful businessman, and my mother, a phys ed turned special ed teacher, provided a life for my siblings and me that any child might dream of. It was a childhood filled with countless adventures and opportunities. It was a childhood full of loud dysfunction and relatively organized chaos coupled with an atmosphere of unconditional love.
Today my family consists of four strong-willed girls and one content young man who come together in a home where fun and laughter are the main events rivaled only by hard work and trying your best. Today we come together in a home where Jesus is talked about, faith is encouraged, and love is at its core, unconditional. Today we come together in a home where we are free to make mistakes, ask questions, think for ourselves, and take off on adventures. Today we come together in a home where the majority of us are radically wrapped up in and hungry for more of the Truth, Hope, and Love, that the life of Christ has to offer.
What is my temperament?
- Fun/thrill seeker
- Avid learner
- Competitor
- Try harder
- Do gooder
- Outdoors/nature lover
What is my dream for my life?
TO LIVE IT. As abundantly as the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ allows. Also, to know, see, hear, and extend Love to, whoever the Lord puts in my path.
What are my hopes for the World Race?
There are oh so many, but mostly I would love to simply learn to be alive and present in each day without an agenda of my own. I hope to let go of the pressure I feel to use time in a way that I deem valuable/worthy. And in doing so I hope to open wide the door of being able to both give and receive the Love, Hope, Joy, Peace and Truth of Christ more freely.
(a less than comprehensive and un-ordered list of) Things that I love:
Mornings. Sunshine. Sunrises. Sunsets. Starry skies. Thunder storms. Mountain tops. Fall. Fresh fruit. Popcorn. Chocolate. Peppermint tea. Hiking. Biking. Swimming. Kayaking. Snowboarding. Sports. Games. Pottery. Music. Reading. Writing. Learning. Travel. Adventure. Languages. Cultures. New experiences. New words. Family. Friends. Joy. Laughter. Hugs. People. Stories. Unexpected kindness. Gospel truth. Being alive.
(a less than comprehensive and un-ordered list of) Things that I don’t love:
Having a cell phone. Cold coffee. When people make other people feel stupid. Office work. Sleeplessness. Losing. Popcorn cooked in olive oil. Cruelty. Wasting time. The sound of motorcycles. Apathy. Running out of sprinkles.
(a complete and somewhat accurate list of) The areas I will be serving in:
- Southeast Asia
- The Middle East
- North Africa
To find out more about the World Race and my route, click on the link below:
http://www.worldrace.org/?tab=routes&subtab=january-2016-exp
