Have you ever experienced the giddiness you feel when you are so excited to get to the final destination of wherever it is you are going but you do not quite want the journey you are on to end because the anticipation is so exciting?
Okay, maybe it is just me.
It has been a wild ten months on three different continents in ten different countries (almost eleven) on four different teams.
I have spent almost 300 hours traveling on buses, rang in the New Year on an Albanian rooftop with fireworks everywhere, and prayed for rain in a Swazi drought and rejoiced when it down poured rain.
I have found freedom in no longer needing to have control, processed through my struggle with shame, and have begun to overcome long-time insecurities.
I have made dinners for people fleeing their homes for freedom, held children who are rarely shown affection, busted down the walls of a church under construction, and visited the homes of children sponsored through Compassion International.
It has bee one heck of an amazing, life changing year with the Lord. One where the memories will always prove better than photos; some things on the Race just cannot be captured accurately in a photograph.
Last week, I was facetiming with a friend from home, a friend who heads to Botswana for two years in the Peace Corp just five days after I return. She was asking me questions about life on the field, trying to process the things I was processing just about a year ago in my preparation to leave home. One of the first things to come up was how to handle homesickness.
Let me tell you, homesickness and I have been best friends this entire trip. Homesickness has me wrapped around his finger, embraced in a warm bear hug. Homesickness tastes like Woods Coffee hot chocolate with a monster cookie and like Boomers’ waffle fries dipped in their chocolate milk shakes. Homesickness smells like Boulevard Park on an overcast day and like evergreen candles burned all winter long. Homesickness sounds like my sweet kiddos talking non-stop all day long, my CrossFit coach, Kacie, yelling encouragement to finish a tough workout, and my favorite Vancouver country radio station turned up loud in the car.
One of the biggest lessons I have learned in the last couple months is home will be there when I return. Bellingham will not suddenly disappear off the map. Boomers will still be serving burgers, fries, and milkshakes. Boulevard Park will still have a boardwalk and trees to hammock from. Woods Coffee will still make hot chocolate and monster cookies. My favorite hiking trails will still exist. My friends, though some will no longer be in Bellingham, will still be there to do all the things we usually do. Amanda and Nathan, who have handled a long distance friendship like champs, will still be my best friends.
Over the last handful of years, when I am not physically in Bellingham, my heart longs to be in Bellingham. It is where my heart is happiest. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes, and the feelings: they make the college town nestled between the bay and the mountains truly Bellinghome. While homesickness may never fully go away, this year away has made me ultimately appreciate the little quirky things and the big things that make Bellingham home.
This journey is coming to an end rather quickly, in just 38 days to be exact. The other day my best friend, Nathan, sent me photos of my favorite place in the world, and for probably the first time on the Race, instead of being upset I was not there, my heart rejoiced because I will be there so soon. I have learned to appreciate home in so many new ways.
My excitement to be back in Bellingham is through the roof, but at the same time, it is bittersweet for this wild year to end. The journey has been long but it has been amazing, hard, exhausting, joyful, and every other emotion imaginable.
The journey to get to the final destination is quickly ending, but I want to soak up every second of what is left. I do not want to reach the final destination and regret how I spent my time along the way.
I am still raising funds to help me get back on my feet when I return. Every amount greatly helps and is much appreciated. If you are able to help, please email me at [email protected]. Thank you!
