Hola from San Jose, Costa Rica!!
I have been here for 6 days now living and breathing in the beautiful landscape, people and culture that is Costa Rica. I will be posting a blog about our experiences here soon but first, I want to write a blog about my dreams, hopes, prayers, questions, ect. for myself in this upcoming year.
To Pre-Race me. To the Kelly that has yet to experience 11 different cultures. To the person that I once knew. To the person I thought I was. This post is for you to look back on and read while you walk through this thing called the World Race. When you need to be reminded why you chose to do this. When you need to remember what your hopes, dreams and goals where for this year.
Kelly, Welcome to the new.
Everything about this year is new for you. At times, it’s the exciting new but it’s typically the very scary, unknown new. This next year is going to contain so many “new”‘s that you aren’t going to know how to handle it at times. It’s going to stretch you, change you, transform you. The person you thought you were isn’t going to be the person you are going to become. It’s about learning, adapting, developing, and allowing the Lord to change you from the inside out. Remember these thoughts, hopes, dreams, and goals when you feel yourself falling back to the old.
- Create space for Him. You are going to experience the Lord in ways you never have before. You are going to see him move and work within you, within your teammates, your host family, and the people around you. There has to be space for this work to be done. Leave all your preconceived notions and expectations about Him behind.
- Stop trying to search for the Lord. Remember that He is already there. Within your soul is where He dwells. He doesn’t need a big grand entrance or red carpet to do work within you. Give Him to have the ability to reveal Himself a little more each and every day. Stay connected to Him through prayer and scripture daily. Allow His nature and the people around you to speak words of life and truth into your heart.
- Give yourself grace. It’s hard and it’s something you are learning to do. Stop being so hard on yourself. Stop trying to live up to this idea of perfection that is impossible to reach. Allow yourself to accept life and truth from your teammates. When you fail, understand that this is part of the process and the Lord still loves and accepts you with all your imperfections.
- Give your teammates grace. They are walking through their own walk with the Lord and are struggling in areas that you don’t understand. Give them grace when they need it. Instead of internalizing the hurt, vocalize when you feel like they have hurt you. Speak life into their pain, their past, and their hurts.
- Take every opportunity to experience the world around you. Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat will still be there when you get home. Your friends and family will still be in the States when you return and not much will change. Don’t miss out on life around you. Stay present where you are and see each new experience as a gift from the Lord. Each person, animal, and plant that you encounter were created by the Lord and deserve to have your undivided attention. Take advantage of your off days and use them to glorify the Lord.
- Breathe life into every facet of your existence. Allow the Lord to mold you and form you into His image so that your words are His, your actions are His, and your thoughts are His. There are people that you will meet where their only encounter with the Lord is through you. Walk away knowing that you left a small piece of the Lord with them whether it be through your words or actions.
- Remember, it’s going to be hard. There are going to be days where you feel like you just can’t go on. Where it’s the most uncomfortable you have ever been. Where the only emotion you have is tears of pain. But remember that on these days, the Lord is going to do his best work. He is going to stretch you beyond what you thought that you could handle so that He can show what He can do within your life.
- Remain humble. This year is not about you. While you are going to change and transform, none of that is for your benefit. It is all for the Lord. It is so that you can become the vessel that the Lord can use to do His work. It’s so that he can move within other peoples lives through you. Don’t take pride in what you are doing throughout the world. It’s all to glorify the Lord, none of it is for you.
- Learn to embrace the silence. Silence has always been a hard concept to grasp for you. It is deafening and uncomfortable. Right now, it’s where the enemy speaks the most darkness into your life. But hopefully, silence becomes the place where you are going to hear the Lord the loudest. Learn to embrace the quiet moments. I hope that you learn to love being silent and listening for the voice of the Lord.
I hope that you always remember that you could have stayed home, sleeping in your comfy bed, having 3 good meals a day, showering regularly, and being comfortable 24 hours a day. But you didn’t. You said yes to the Lord calling you to a deeper place. You said yes to the new, to the unknown, to the uncomfortable. You chose to experience this next year with the Lord by your side as well as this squad and this team. Don’t forget why you are doing this and what you hope to gain from it over the next year! Welcome to the new!
Thank you to every single person who has supported me over these past few months. I am so blessed to have each one of you in my life! I am currently sitting at $13,045 financially! That means I only need $3,222 more to be FULLY FUNDED! My goal is to be fully funded by my next financial deadline which is October 31st. If 47 people offered to donate $10 a week for the next 7 weeks, I would be fully funded! Let me know if you want to be part of these 47! Thank you all and I am so excited to update you about our short but impactful time here in Costa Rica. Be on the lookout for a new blog post within the next week!
