Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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With just about a month left before I am Ireland bound for my first stop of the World Race (YAY!!), I think it’s really time to get serious about this blog situation.   About time, I know 😉 

To start, here’s an update on the past 6 weeks since training camp….it has been crazy and wonderful!

After camp (the last 10 days of May), I came back to DC for my last week in the city. My work spoiled me (among other great things, they had an ice cream sandwich party! My favorite!) and sent me off with more honor and love than I deserved. Then my weeknights and last weekend were spent soaking up my wonderful friends!! They also spoiled and loved on me far more than I deserved…. but I accepted and enjoyed it 🙂 Some highlights include a Hillsong United concert (amazing!), helping me move, walking the national monuments, going-away barbeque, kayaking, and the Cheesecake Factory!

 

Then on June 7th, I drove away. This was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I loved my life in DC – I had an awesome church, loving relationships, and a stable job and genuinely enjoyed the city. However, I am completely confident that God has called me on the World Race, and if it is his will, all those things will be safeguarded until I return and will be better because of obedience. And if he has something else, my hands are open and holding that life loosely….or at least I am trying too! (Praise the Lord, Christianity is a process not a destination!!) 

This verse is really helping me process: Luke 9: 23-24, ” If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” And of course, I am only symbolically loosing my life and, Lord willing, it will be there when I get back! But God has been really challenging me about how tightly I am holding onto the things of this world – even if they are good and pure! 

And, as I reflect more and work through the pain of loosing my life in DC, I find myself exceedingly grateful. Not just that I was blessed with a life that I liked (not one that I felt as if I needed to run from), but also because it means depending more on Christ. If it were easy, I would not experience the same growth and stretching of my faith. God is calling me to a deeper relationship with him – how blessed am I?!   So, as much as it sucks and hurts now, I know that God has amazing things in store for the next year, if only I will die to myself and fully depend on Him. 

One of my favorite passages is from Genesis 41 where Pharaoh sends for Joseph to interpret a dream for him. And Joseph’s response (verse 16) is, “I cannot do it….but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires!” I cannot do the World Race and leave DC, I cannot raise $15,000 in this economy or lead my team around the world, but God not only can…. he WILL!  

Also, I find amazing comfort in Acts 1:8, which says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” My power is from the never-failing, never-ending, Holy Spirit working in me. Phew! 

Ok, back to updating you on my life….So I drove away from DC on June 7th and started an adventured-filled road trip with my amazing mother (who flew out from Arizona). When I was little, I came up with a crazy goal of seeing all 50 states before I turned 25. Well, the WR is cutting a year out of that time, so I decided I would amend my goal to just seeing the continental 48 states before I turned 24 (foregoing Alaska and Hawaii for now). Before my road trip, I still had a handful of mid-west states to see so we drove from DC to Arizona via North Dakota! And hit all my states along the way. 🙂 So now I have accomplished my amended goal, experienced much of our beautiful country, and, in the process, moved my car full of my belongings back to Arizona where it will be for the next year. Plus, my mom and I had a blast!! I was able to update her on my life in DC and process through training camp with her – awesome! So after a few theme parks, national parks, 15 states, 6 days and 3,000 miles later, we arrived home. 🙂

 


I got home just in time for my best friend’s wedding! I spent that week unpacking just enough of my stuff to survive and started fulfilling fun bridesmaid duties!   I have been friends with Holly since 7th grade, so it was especially neat to spend this time with her! Also, our entire group of friends from High School had the chance to hang out for the first time in 4 years….such a neat time of fellowship! Holly and Randy were married on June 19th and it was so beautiful….crazy busy, but stunningly beautiful! 
 
 

The very next day, I went on a road trip to California! My parents and I met my Aunt Melinda and cousin, Chad, who are from Oregon, at Disneyland for a few days of fun! It was a wonderful time of bonding with my dad (we have a very similar style of attacking theme parks…quick and efficient so we can ride as many rides as possible!!) and the rest of my family. Then on the way home, I took a slight detour to Tucson, AZ to see my grandparents and uncle. A week earlier, my grandfather had colon cancer surgery so I went to visit him in the hospital and spent some sweet time catching up with them. It was so nice! And, I’m happy to praise God and report that grandpa is doing well now!

 

Finally, I was home for a few more days before heading to Phoenix to see some dear friends from high school and college! I stayed one night with a second family of sorts and enjoyed great company and food! Then I went to a baby shower for a friend from college and spent the night with one of my closest friends and college roommate, Crystal! It was a really sweet time of celebrating new life and resting with old friends!

And now…I am home.  Sigh of relief.   I have now been at my parent’s house for a week plowing through my to-do list, resting, studying up on God’s word, hanging with my family and preparing for this next great adventure! 

It has been a whirlwind, but I wouldn’t change any of it! I have so enjoyed this time of catching-up on everyone’s lives here in Arizona!   Also, I feel so blessed to have down time with my family to really prepare mentally and spiritually for the tasks ahead.

Ok, now you are updated. 🙂  Only 33 days until my Launch in Dublin, Ireland!   YAY!!
 
 
 

“I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; 
apart from you I have no good thing.”
Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
  surely I have a delightful inheritance.” 
~Psalm 16: 2, 5-6