It’s 11/11… And you know what that means… WORLD RACE DAY!
The last two world race days I was fundraising and preparing for this crazy journey that has been far more than I could have ever imagined. It has been more scary, more funny, more challenging, more wonderful, and more stretching than I expected. I have many wonderful new friends all over the world, and I have new brothers and sisters that have lived life with me every moment of the last 11 months. We have been together in the good, the bad, and the ugly (those months when you don’t have access to a regular shower or a mirror.) We have laughed together, cried together, loved together, and explored God’s magnificent creation together.
And now, I am sitting in a cafe in Argentina drinking coffee and eating medialunas. It is my 11th country, my 11th month, and my last stop before home. In many ways I am a totally different person, and in many ways I am the same. I love a little deeper, laugh a little harder, see a little more now. My focus is a little less on me and a little more on God and on others. I haven’t been alone in 11 months and I have seen things that have broken my heart in ways I didn’t know were possible. But 11 months later and I am still talking about eating a chick-fil-a sandwich when I get home, music is still my favorite thing in the world, and I still think that dumb jokes and cheesy pickup lines are pretty much the best. I have, however, acquired a strange and somewhat unexplainable obsession with jam… maybe it was all those terrible peanut butter sandwiches we ate in Africa…
As I think back on this year, and look ahead to what I will be doing this time next year, my heart is both deeply saddened for the end of a chapter, the end of a dream, and greatly excited for whatever the next season will hold. In just a few short days I will say goodbye to this crazy adventure, more than three years in the making, and God and I will have to start dreaming a new dream together. If I don’t have it all figured out by the time my plane touches down at JFK International Airport, please be patient with me… This is a big transition. It’s going to have its challenges, but I can’t wait to see what the first words of my next chapter will be, because the Author of Eternity is writing my story.
