I have a confession.
I have writers block.
When I was accepted into The World Race Gap Year, they suggested blogging once or twice a month leading up to your departure and then once or twice a week while you are gone. I wrote once a month for the first three months after I was accepted, but the last two months, I haven’t posted anything. It’s not like things aren’t happening, I just cant find the right words or the significance of a situation.
This blog is going to be a little bit of everything.
Fundraising: I am officially halfway funded! I posted on Facebook that I was $132.00 short of halfway and a sweet family I know donated and helped me reach that monumental goal.
Halfway is such a huge step but I still have to raise about $7000. I have began to meet with people and they are so eager to help. One thing I have realized with fundraising is that people genuinely want to help you. They want to be part of this journey with you and care about what you are doing.
To everyone who has donated to my journey, thank you. I wish I could express my gratitude in more than two simple words but sometimes two simple words can be the most meaningful. Thank you for the support, financially, spiritually, and prayerfully. It means more than you will ever know.
I am only selling the Threads of Hope bracelets for a short while longer. I think I will return them mid to late March, so if you wanted one, two, five, ten, let me know and we can make that happen!
Team: My team is amazing. We are up to almost 40 people (I think), and God is working through each of us. We have Skype dates, bible study, cry sessions, and so many laughs. I never thought God would place this many brothers and sisters in my life to help me grow my faith, my relationships, and my heart. Because of these people, I have learned how to have a greater trust of people, learned that it is okay not to be okay, among so many other things. I am connecting with these people and am so excited to spend nine months with them.
Me: God is working in me in ways that I don’t understand and it is confusing to say the least. God is opening doors for me that are pushing me WAY outside of my comfort zone. I have had to public speak recently, which, if you know me, you know I don’t do. I was not looking forward to it but I know it was the Lord trying to push me and make me grow. (And for those wondering… I did fine.)
I am an anxious person. I get anxiety over a lot. Recently, my anxiety has been front and center. College, the World Race, schoolwork, home life… everything. One thing God has been doing in me is trying to help me find healthy ways to release some of those anxieties.
One thing that has helped so much lately is coloring. Yes, I know. Coloring is what everyone is doing right now. But, I have a story to go along with it! When I was in middle school, I went to a retreat with my church. The retreat was great and I loved every minute of it but my favorite part was in the van as we were driving home. Our youth group leader, Bob, was talking about this thing called “praying in color”. When he was teaching us to pray in color, this is what he taught us to do.
1. Write someone’s name in the middle of a paper.
2. Draw and color pictures around that name of things you would like to pray for for that person.
That’s it. That was praying in color. As I have grown older, I have interpreted praying in color differently and now, instead of praying for one specific person, I pray for anything and everything.
Prayer Requests: As always, please pray for fundraising and that I solely rely on God to carry me through this process.
Please pray for my team and I as we continue to prepare to leave our families for nine months.
Please pray for our families as they prepare for us to leave.
Please pray that the Lord continues to challenge me, use me, and help me grow.
