To say 2018 was a year of change, would be an understatement.
When the year started, I lived in Colorado. I was a part time lifeguard at Great Wolf Lodge and I was a full time student at Pikes Peak Community College.
Honestly, I was lost at this time. I felt like I was in this weird in-between space. I was preparing to come on the World Race, but I wasn’t quite ready to leave the secular world behind. I was at a war with my self because my heart longed for God and to be on my adventure with Him already, but my body wanted to partake in the typical college life.
The year continued and, mostly, let my body win. I barely sufficed my heart with teaching Sunday school and going to Church each week, or with spending weekends with my family enjoying the all of the beauty Colorado had to offer.
Finally, in May, I came home to Texas for my friend’s High School Graduation. As I reunited with my good friends, I realized how much I had lost myself in Colorado. I made the decision to redefine my life and give my heart back the power.
Immediately after the graduation, my best friend and I went to Cabo, Mexico. Then, I returned to Colorado and learned that my family and I would be moving back to my hometown in Texas. I could not have been more excited. The little bit of time I had left in Colorado was spent saying goodbye to the crazy life I had made there… and getting my tonsils out!
Half of 2018 is gone now and I’m back home. I have a fresh new start and I’m determined not to waste it. I put my heart in charge, and it did not fail me.
I gave God His rightfully spot in my life, the center. I rebuilt my relationship with God and I continued to go to Church each week, but now, all of me wanted to be there. I enjoyed spending time with my family. I worked, yet again, as a lifeguard. I spent time with my old, good friends and I even made new, great friends too. My life was on the incline, and it only got better.
At the end of July, I went to training camp, and the World Race became real. It was no longer a distant dream, but it became an upcoming reality. Here, I put my past behind me and laid my future at the feet of Jesus. I came home more eager than ever to partake on my new journey.
September came quicker than I expected and the next thing I knew I was leaving life as I knew it behind. I said goodbye to my family and friends and left the country ready to spread God’s love everywhere I could for the next nine months.
I spent the next three months in Costa Rica. I grew and changed in pretty much every aspect of who I am. I learned so much about myself, about God, and about my relationship with Him.
Then, suddenly, it’s December and I’m on my way to South Africa. My last month of 2018 was spent adjusting to a new culture and a new way of life. More than that though, I was filled with hope for the new year and all that it had in store. I was eager to see all the more growth and change I would experience as my journey continued.
2019 is a new year, but it’s the middle of a season.
Its hard to say this is a new start, but I will say it is fresh. This year is an open, blank book that I’m eager to fill the pages of and I pray that each page will reflect the love of God.
