In a blink of an eye, I will be on a plane home. 11 months have gone by, I have traveled to 11 countries, lived out of a backpack, and I don’t know what the heck is going on in America.
Here are a few things I have come up with
1. Expect me to need some time to adjust to America. I am used to constant community, squatty potties, mismatched clothes, bucket showers, feedback and the list can go on and on.
2. Expect to give me grace if I say something that reminds me of the race or a teammate. I have been with these people for 11 months, and we have so many stories!
3. Expect me to cry. I know that I didn’t cry a lot before the race, but God has done some work in me and now I cry more. I might cry getting into my car to drive…I miss driving so much!
4. Expect me to need community. I have lived with 50 plus people who have become my brothers and sister for 11 months. Saying bye to them in May is going to be one of the hardest things I’ve yet to do. We have become family. Once I get home, I will need community. It could sound needy, but we all need community to do life with.
5. Expect me to be different. I have seen and done a lot I’ve he last 11 months. God has done a lot in me and I’m not the same person I was when I left.
6. Expect me to be shocked by the prices in America. We are going from one extreme to another. From extreme poverty to America where we have an excess of everything. My jaw will drop the next time I go to a coffee shop or restaurant and see the prices, because we have been paying $4 a day for food…not $4 a meal, but for the entire day.
7. Expect me to get frustrated if you ask me how my trip was…unless you want a punch in the face or a response that could go on for weeks. It’s like asking how your life has been in the past year….it’s a loaded question. If you want to ask something, ask what God has taught me, or how I liked a country, or my favorite country, or the food, or the ministry, etc. Ask me more specific questions, and I will give you specific answers instead of saying the trip was great. It’s hard to come up with a response to such a broad question.
8. Expect me to want to know how you are. When I ask that question, I’m expecting you to tell me how you really are. Most of us think it’s polite to ask how you are but we don’t want to really know, I want to know. This year I have been with people who had hardships, needed someone to talk through things, and to pray over each other. I’ve needed those friends too so I know how important it is. I want to know how you really are, so please be honest with me.
9. Expect me to be out of the loop of the latest songs, politics, and news. I have missed a lot of stuff while I’ve been gone….and honestly I don’t care about catching up with most of them.
10. Expect me to share lots of stories about the race and about God. God has done some pretty awesome stuff in the past year, and I would love to share the stories with you. Please extend grace when I start saying, “that one time in India…” Or “we ate this in the Philippines..” Just bear with me and tell me it’s too much.
11. Expect me to be excited about the little things. We have lived life on $4 a day, wearing the same clothes and showering with buckets…things in America will get us excited like nice warm showers, beds that feel you are sleeping on clouds, and the amount of options we have to pick our favorite deodorant.
So this is something you can look at before I get home, I’m giving you a fair warning! Thank you everyone for loving me and taking this journey with me, it’s definitely a process on both sides!
