AHHH! My first “11 Things” list! In case you haven’t noticed, World Racers tend to have an obsession with the number 11. (#11n11, 11 countries in 11 months, get it?)
Well lest we waste precious blog space, let me get right to 11 Things Happening in My Life Right Now (in no particular order):
1. Support raising
Ah, the dreaded subject. Well the time has come for me to stop saying “I need to start contacting people”. The time is now people. I am officially starting my serious support raising process. I’m meeting with a couple friends who are on staff with Cru to go over support raising stuff, and then off it goes from there. So basically this means, you may or may not be hearing from me soon 🙂
2. Job life
Oh Professional Research Consultants, how I can never get away from you. Guys, this is my FIFTH TIME working for this company. They just keep taking me back. To be honest though, I’m super lucky and blessed to have this job because they are so stinking flexible. I’ve already made up time for the 2 weeks that I’ll be gone in July for training camp, and it’s no big deal to them. As long as my time is covered by PTO or made up in advance, they’re good. It’s really the perfect job to have before leaving (#PTL).
3. I have forgotten how to ride a bike
This was quite the sad (and incredibly embarrassing) realization. So I was thinking of selling my car, but the thing is, I still need to get to and from work/church/random social events (ha..). In light of this, I decided to check out the bike section of Walmart. A lovely Walmart associate helped me pick one that would work for what I needed, pulled it off the rack, and let me ride around a few aisles. Turns out, you CAN forget how to ride a bike. Not only could I not go more than 10 feet without falling over, I almost ran the same stranger over TWICE. My bad. Side note, the phrase “It’s just like riding a bike” will never mean the same thing to me again.
4. Selling my stuff
I completely gutted and cleaned my room last weekend (yes Mom, I know I need to clean it already). I threw away a ton of crap that was just wasting space, made a donate pile, and started picking through things that someone somewhere might be willing to pay for. Also, I have an entire storage of items from living out on my own for 3 years that I haven’t touched in 11 months (hey! There’s that number 11 again. This time it wasn’t planned). So that’s fun. It’s always interesting to see how much crap you can accumulate. We are so spoiled in America.
5. Coping with serious wanderlust
All I want to do is explore and travel the world for ever and ever. I’m not talking just World Race travel. The thing with the World Race for me is that I’m not going on this trip for the travel. I’m going to serve the Lord. So yes, while traveling is part of the experience, it’s not the reason for the experience. I want to go on some trips where exploration and adventure IS the reason for the experience. God created such a cool world, and I feel like I’ve missed out on it in my life so far. Major life focus shifts may or may not be happening after the Race.
6. Coping with serious envy over other friends travels
It seems that everyone decided to go to Europe in May and/or June. Two of my closest friends are on a 5 week backpacking trip around Europe where they met up with my other good friend who has been living in England for the past 9 or so months. On top of those lovely ladies leaving me to fend for myself right after graduation (I kid, I kid), at least 3 other Facebook friends decided to go on their own European vacations. Man, this is not helping with #5 at all. One day, RaeLynn, one day.
7. Physically preparing for the World Race
See previous blog post here. I’ve been going on LOTS of 2+ miles walks with or without my loaded backpack. I’m also working on lifting weights a little to build up some muscle for all the physically demanding situations I’ll encounter at training camp and once I leave.
8. Spiritually preparing for the World Race
Jesus is doing his thing right now. I ask for boldness and confidence, he has me speak at small group, and (gasp!) pray out loud in MULTIPLE SITUATIONS! My goodness Jesus, did you have to answer so quickly? No but really, it’s been cool to see how the Lord is working to bring me out of my shell and build my confidence up in Him. There’s still a lot of work to do, but it’s moving along.
9. Getting to know new squad mates
Sort of goes along with #8. I’m very shy and introverted. I generally wait for people to reach out to me, and a lot of times the thought of meeting new people makes we want to crawl into a dark closet and cry myself to sleep. But I actually reached out to a few new squad mates this past week and had some great Skype conversations with them. I can’t wait to meet everyone in less than a month.
10. Soaking up time with my family
I try to be around them as much as I can. That’s not too much, because I really enjoy being by myself, but I’ve been trying to make it a point to stick around when I can. I also have to stop myself from thinking about the goodbyes that are going to be said in just a few months. If I think about it too long, I start to cry. And that’s no bueno.
11. Not so patiently awaiting training camp
Time is really dragging, friends. I feel like I’m in some weird time space continuum where time is going SO FAST yet sooo slooowwww. These past 7 or so months since I was accepted to the World Race flew by, but now that training camp is less than a month out, my weeks are dragging on and on. I’m trying to remind myself to live in the now and be present where the Lord has me, but it’s just so difficult with my heart being pulling in different directions.
So there you have it. 11 things that are happening in my life right now. I hope this kinda gets you guys up to date on what’s going on. I haven’t blogged as much as I originally intended to, but I didn’t want to just ramble on and on each week about stuff that doesn’t really make sense. Maybe once I start the Race there will be more interesting things happening in my life. For now, this list will have to do.
Like I mentioned, I’m really getting in to the support raising process now. I could use all the prayer I can get! Specific things you can pray for are:
– Confidence that God will provide all the funds in His perfect timing
– That I would have confidence when inviting people to join my support team
– That the Lord would work on individual people hearts to lead them to support me financially
– That God would provide lots of new friends to speak with about the World Race and how they can help me reach my financial goals
And as always, if you would like to support me, click the Support Me tab here or on the fundraising bar at the stop of my blog. Any and every donation matters, no matter the amount. I am about 39% funded, which means I am well over my first financial deadline of $3,500, and over halfway to my next financial deadline of $10,000. I’m asking and trusting God to be fully funded by launch so that I can be fully present on the World Race from the very beginning! Thank you for following my blog (I can’t believe you’ve read this far down, you’re awesome), and I can’t wait to see how the next few months unfold!
