If you've been wondering what my life has looked like in these final weeks of preparation before leaving for the world race, here's a glimpse into it:
Since May 17th I've been traveling every 1-7 days from Baton Rouge, LA to Syracuse, NY and just about every city in between. I've been to camps and weddings, dinosaur museums and mountains. I've slept on couches, floors, guest beds, hammocks, and in cars. Eaten home cooked meals, catered meals, fast food meals, and no meals… But what I'd like to share with you here are 11 of the most valuable & hysterical lessons I've learned along the way this past month.
So, in no particular order…
1) Life is unexpected, full of adventure, and plenty of opportunities. Don't miss them because you get scared, uncomfortable, or because you left your essentials somewhere. Aka always keep your tooth brush/toothpaste, contact/glasses case, and a change of clothes in your backpack..and always keep your backpack with you
2) Given the option to take a freezing cold shower or jumping in a lake, always jump in the lake. In fact, even when bathing isn't on the line, if there's a body of water (that looks at least some what safe) to jump in on a hot day you should just do it.
3) When the enemy attacks, run to God as fast as you can. Sometimes that looks like unexpectedly whipping your car into the quickly approaching median, flinging your door open, running across two lanes of traffic, and getting down on your hands and knees in the gravel lining the railroad tracks to cry out in prayer.
4) Surviving on energy drinks and dill pickle chips to accomplish 22 hours of driving in 48 hours and then playing outside in the sun all day on only an hour of sleep, which was had sitting upright in the front seat of your car with your head tilted against the window, WILL give you the summer flu and make you throw up all night the next night.
5) If you're going to recklessly walk into oncoming traffic, tie your shoes tight. Otherwise, when you get hit by a car and go flying into the air, they'll come flying off as well.
6) One perk to having friends spread out across the country is that you always have a free place to stay and a home cooked meal along the way. Seriously, THANK YOU to everyone who housed and fed Haleigh and I on our road trip; we loved our visits and I'm so thankful I got to spend time with y'all before leaving!
7) West Virginia's wild & wonderful sites never dull as the years pass. And if you have the chance, go rafting down the New River!!
8) Always keep bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and a frisbee in the car. You never know where the day will take you.
9) When packing becomes too overwhelming, do what any other sensible person would do and see if you can completely fit inside of your backpack air porter.
10) Don't be afraid to march around your Jericho. Even if that means putting your bible on the ground in the middle of a room full of middle & high schoolers and literally marching around it with your arms raised and hands open. The Israelites looked like fools and found their promise. Pray hard, pray through, and embrace looking like a fool while you're doing it
11) Don't get so caught up in planning what's next that you miss the adventure that's going on right now.
