We are halfway, y’all.
We started out this journey as 35 wide-eyed young adults all with a dream to see God bring people to himself throughout the 10/40 window, to be a piece in the puzzle of people’s stories and life journies, to see the Lord perform miracles, to be emboldened and strengthened, to engage culture and be a helping hand to Christian missionaries around the world.
That’s where we were in January.
Mmmkay. Fast forward.
Here’s a quick look at where we are now.
It’s been 6 months, 5.5 months of ministry, 9 countries, 450+ hours of traveling via planes, trains (sleeper and normal), buses (sleeper and normal, public and private), host cars, marshukas, ferries, automatic and manual rickshaws, bicycles, taxis and mopeds, 25 different homes, hostels, and guest houses…and it’s all birthed in me an even greater realization of my own folly, futility and finiteness.
My squad and I are now a group of 34, slightly-crazed nomads (about to be 31 even crazier nomads – see pictures below – when our original all-squad leaders depart after the next debrief) who feel as if we have been just as radically changed, if not vastly moreso, by the missionaries and locals we’ve met than they themselves might say about us. We’ve been exposed as weak and in need of help, learning again and again of the Lord’s timing and of our own smallness.
To be honest, the statement “I am not God” is a good way for me to sum up most of the lessons I learned during the first half of the race. I’ve been repeatedly humbled and whittled down to my core only to discover that I really am scary capable of radical evil and sin. Against myself, against other people, against my Savior King and Father.
So, in honor of this state of deep realization I’m in, characterized by profound humility and helplessness, I want to write a short list of things I am thankful for about the first half of the race as well as a list of things I’m hopeful for about the second half.
THANKSGIVING
I’m thankful for each of the teams I’ve been on up to this point: X-Stream Team (month 1 & 2), Beast Mode (month 3), Blaze Mode (month 4), Team Untitled (month 5) and Las Sombras Santas (month 6).
I’m so thankful for friends and family back home who have been kind enough to continue to check up on me, pray for me or send me an “I’m thinking of you” FB message (each message does not go unnoticed and always gets read at least 4-5 times, even if I don’t respond).
I’m thankful for Magnum ice cream bars and that they can be found almost anywhere in the world. (It was really only a matter of time before I said ice cream).
I’m thankful for rain and hailstorms and hail-fighting with our host’s daughter and their neighbor (think snowball fight but…hail…yeah).
I’m thankful for mountains and rivers and how they give the earth definition and color.
I’m thankful for western toilets (especially when I can flush toilet paper down them).
I’m thankful for ministry hosts in every country who show they care and are willing and wanting to invest in me in any way.
I’m thankful for places to lay my head and sleep, regardless of the air temperature, the stiffness of the floor, the noise, mosquitoes or the amount of light.
I’m thankful for late nights of honest conversation and deep connection with fellow girl squadmates.
I’m thankful for exercise buddies, especially when they sacrifice their running pace for mine.
I’m thankful for the freedom and abandon that comes with riding a bike.
I’m thankful for fans and air conditioning units in countries that experience intense heat waves.
I’m thankful for cultural differences and how they make me reconsider and reevaluate who I am and how I think things should be done.
I’m thankful for my squad leaders Jeremi, Esther and Steph for their guidance and for the individual skill sets that they’ve brought to our squad.
I’m thankful for the really hard times and tough realizations and moments where I was totally spent and for seeing the Lord come through, in one way or another, during each of those times.
HOPEFULLNESS
I am hoping to see a strong bond be formed in my current team, Las Sombras Santas (the meaning is “the holy shadows”, meant to reflect a frequently used phrase throughout a book of the Bible called Psalms where the author “takes refuge under the shadow of the Lord’s wings”… it’s in Spanish because 2 of our teammates speak fluent Spanish and others are learning Spanish…also…Expedition might be going to Spain in month 10 or 11…possibly…).
I’m hoping to deepen my love and knowledge of both Scripture and the Spirit.
I hope to see my parents during World Race’s Parent Vision Trip coming up at the end of August.
I hope to become someone who is better at confrontation and at giving positive/constructive feedback when needed…and not to my own glory.
I hope to post at least 4 blogs a month out of respect and affection for each of you, my loyal readers.
I hope my squad gets to visit some historical landmarks of places mentioned in the New Testament while in Turkey or Greece.
I hope to have my mind be blown about God and myself more and more.
I really hope to see people join the family as God’s children and commit their lives to him in full indebtedness and love.
I am hoping to spend my birthday in grateful reflection on the past year.
I am hoping to begin to gain an idea about what God intends for me for when I get back to the States because right now I’ve no solid plans.
I hope to laugh more, be more free, more thankful, more faithful to Scripture, to allow myself to be hurt more by wearing my heart on my sleeve, to risk other people’s good opinions of me for worthwhile purposes, to hope more, to be more vocal and intentional about what I do with my time.
And now, meet my new, crazy [awesome] teammates!!
Taylor
Arlene
Rosie
Nicole
Drew
Thad
What a good journey this has been, and I’m excited to know there’s still a whole ‘nother half still to go. BRING IT ON!
I ain’t turning back. 😉
