….60 days until Training Camp in Atlanta
….140 days until Launch
….33.81% funded ($5,753 total raised)
….11 countries 11 months 1 mission
As I type this blog, I have to say- vaccination shots are NOT fun. I got 5 shots yesterday and my arms hate me today! Glad that part’s over with! Phew! These days, weeks, months are FLYING by y’all! I knew it was going to be that way, but didn’t realize it was going to happen so fast! It’s been almost 3 months since I felt led to apply to the World Race and got accepted. It has just been such an amazing opportunity to see God work (you have to read the entire blog to see more on this 😉 ) and how clearly it has been for me to see him directing me! I know that I know without a doubt, this is where I’m supposed to be. I have to admit though, a part of me wants time to slow down a little so I can enjoy these last few months with my family and friends and to have all the access I want to things that give me comfort. I’ve eaten Chic-Fil-A 3 times this past week alone. Gotta make up for the year I won’t have it, right?? HAHA
So, I just wanted to give y’all a few updates on how things are going and where I’m at with things-
If you read my last blog, I talked about an obstacle that had risen that day concerning being put on a wait list. This was due to the high amount of racers who had applied and been accepted to my specific route. 55 racers for each route, 82 people accepted to mine. I’m not the greatest at math but that doesn’t match up. Unfortunately, it pushed them to have to start a wait list, so whoever had applied and gotten accepted after the first 55 people had their spots secured,(this was based on when their deposit was made so it was completely fair) we were placed on this list. A few things could/would happen now.. either we would be placed on a different January route (different squad/different countries) OR enough people with secured spots would feel led to switch routes (wherever God was directing them… which did happen) or their first goal of $5,000 wasn’t met. Either way, we would have to wait until a month before training camp to find out where we stood. After this announcement, I was super discouraged. Not once since I had applied to this specific route did I question if this was the one where God wanted me, however I did realize that I didn’t pray over each route before I made my selection for God to direct me to where he wanted me so even as discouraged as I was, I knew that God was going to place me where he needed me to be and I was completely ok with this. I even prayed about possibly just going ahead and switching to a different route so I didn’t have to wait, but nothing in me felt led to do so, so I just decided I would sit and wait to see what happened. With that being said, I received an email Friday stating that I was off the wait list and my spot was officially secured for Route 3! Praise God for the patience he is giving me and for showing me how to be still. We also received our Squad colors (go GREEN!) and we finally got our squad names! I am on the S17 Squad. WOO! Why do these small things make this big thing that’s about to happen so much more real?!?!? It’s exhilarating, it’s scary, it’s…everything!
Where am I at with my fundraising, you ask? All I have to say is that you guys are so incredibly awesome! Y’all helped me meet my first goal of $5,000 (that wasn’t due until Sept 23rd) almost 2 months ahead of that date! How cool?!?! I am beyond blessed! By the time I submit what money I have in hand that people have given me, I will be sitting at around $6,200. I am just blown away at that! My 2nd goal of another $5,000 is due by the end of December (2 weeks before my launch date) but I have no doubt that you guys won’t step up and prayerfully give! This will put me at a total of $10,000, leaving $7,000 left to raise. I am striving to raise at least $14,000 (this is the amount I have to have by my 3rd goal of $3,000 that’s due at the end of Feb) BEFORE I even leave due to the fact that I will not be here to fundraise and that will be less that needs to come in for me to be fully funded by the end of April. That allows me to stay on the race the entire 11 months. I know God has this and I know that he is going to send me supporters and provide! He’s already shown me that! I have several new fundraisers coming up also, including a silent auction in the next month, another order (maybe 2, one being long sleeved) of t-shirts, and a yard sale probably in Oct…so that means start cleaning out your closet because you now have someone who is willing to take your stuff off your hands =). I still have beautiful charm bracelets for sale and also wood art! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about how you can help or if you’d like to just find out more information about what I’ll be doing in each country! Please also continue to be in prayer for me and my squad as we prepare for things, especially spiritually. Where God is, so is Satan. Please also be in prayer about being led to financially support me. If you feel led to donate you can do so on my home blog page! (This goes directly to my World Race funds account)
**Going back to the beginning of this blog where I said that I’ve gotten to see how God has worked through all of this, I want to elaborate more on that because I have yet to do so and God has laid it on my heart to share with you HOW he has worked this all out and given me confirmation.
1. I applied for the WR Sunday, May 22nd. My year lease for my apartment ended May 31st (I had already signed my contract for another year there). Before I even knew I had gotten accepted (I was still the interviewing process), I decided to go talk to my apartment’s office about changing my lease to a month to month basis and explained why. They actually allowed me to do so, so I paid for June, found out June 6th I was accepted so I only had to pay for one month of this (it was $100 extra to do the month to month, so I was nervous about making this kind of decision without knowing anything)
2. My grandma graciously allowed me to move in with her, rent free. Although it’s a heck of a drive now to anywhere, it’s a lot of money I’m saving.
3. I was scared to death to tell my manager about my decision. I knew this was where God was calling me, but I had only been at my new job for 4 months so I wasn’t sure what the response would be, especially by the 2 doctors. By the grace of God, not only was my manager so supportive of this, the doctors I work for and the entire staff have been nothing but supportive as well! The doctors are going to be accepting my notice once I put it in in December, they want to try and get me back in once I’m home, AND they even donated to my funds. I was so blown away by this, it almost put me in tears. I realized at that moment, why God led me to change jobs and take this one because I would not have gotten anywhere near this support from where I was coming from. How cool is it when God reveals glimpses of why things in the past work out the way they do when in that time, you just don’t understand??
4. As silly and small as this sounds, who was going to keep my pyscho (but loving) dog and my cat for an ENTIRE year?? After 2 weeks, they’d be regretting the decision. For those of you who know me, I’m weird about my dog. I love her to death and am like, super attached to her.. I mean, she’s my best friend! I had no intentions of asking my mom just because I know she’s a handful and not good on a leash especially when other dogs come around, but guess who stepped up and volunteered? My mom. I’m so thankful for her and her willingness.
5. I have a friend who actually just got back from her year on the World Race! She has so graciously allowed me to borrow a HUGE portion of gear that’s required for me to have (camping backpack, tent, sleeping bag, etc) which has helped save me a ton of money. She’s been such a huge help and blessing to me! I’m so thankful for her willingness to make herself available to me for advice, help, encouragement… whatever it might be. I firmly believe this was God’s doing as well.
6. Last thing I’m going to share, about 3 weeks ago, I was roughly $100 short of making my $5,000. I shared a post on facebook about it. (I’m sure many of you know what post I’m talking about) Within 5 min of posting that, I had walked into the kitchen to make some coffee and I had a check waiting for me that had been mailed by one of my donors… guess how much the check was for? You got it… $100. I stopped right where I was, with a huge grin on my face, because I knew exactly where that was coming from.
As you can see, God has truly had his hand in everything. As this has all been so encouraging and confirming for me, I pray that it also gives you all encouragement as well. Whatever you might be going through, trust that God IS in control and he will bring you out of whatever it might be!
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all of the support, prayer and love that has been shown. This isn’t just my journey, this is yours as well and I’m so excited that you can be apart of it with me!
-Leah
“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” -John 12:26
