I arrived home from the World Race three days ago.
This is the story of how home has been for the last three days. But it's mostly about today.
Since July 2012, F Squad has been traveling to spread the love of Christ. My squad starts debrief tomorrow, but as I had written in a previous blog, I felt that He was calling me to speak at a summer camp. So, even though the rest of my squad is still in Estonia, I'm home 9 days early to get rid of this terrible jet lag and pack to leave for camp in three days.
Coming home… well, what can I say, I was looking forward to it. I wanted to see my mom, sleep in a bed, have some alone time, and wear cute clothes. It has definitely been strange not having my team around and being in constant community. I can't even explain how strange that's been. It's also strange that my squad is still overseas… and I'm home.
At first I was questioning God and wondering if I had really heard His voice about all of this. I felt like a failure for leaving (only 9 days) early and not finishing it out all the way. I was also tremendously experiencing a bad case of FOMO (which stands for Fear Of Missing Out).
So, that's been the last couple of days. I've eaten great food, worried more about my appearance than I did for the last 11 months, and spent a lot of time with my family.
Today, I had plans to meet up with my friend Alex for coffee at a local place called Jumpin' Java. We had a great time catching up and were about to part ways when my First Priority leader from high school asked, "Samantha?!"
I hadn't seen Randy in years! I went on my first overseas mission trip with him in 2007 to Jamaica. Since then I had been in Florida and the Race. So, we had to catch up. I was so excited to hear about all of his recent/current mission work in Grand Haven and Jamaica as well as hear about his daughter (who's a year older than me) who is living in South Korea teaching and serving with her husband.
During a lull in the conversation he jokingly asked me, "You're not interested in volunteering tonight at Rock the Coast are you?" I didn't have any plans so I told him maybe. (Rock the Coast is a Christian concert and the main band playing was Audio Adrenaline. Along with them were Disciple, Jason Dunn, and a few Christian rap artists.) After asking my mom if she wanted to go with me, I called Randy back and said that we were excited to volunteer!
We got there at 3:30 and started getting ready to open the gates for the crowds. One of the sponsors happened to be Liberty University, the school I recently got accepted into for their online MBA program. They made an announcement on stage about a drawing for a scholarship that they would be having. Well, I couldn't pass that up! I went and put my name in.
The concert continued, the bands rocked, and I dutifully volunteered (while rocking to the concert).
About 5 hours later, I get a call from a number I didn't recognize. It was the guys from the Liberty booth calling me to tell me that I had won a $16,000 scholarship to Liberty University.
WHAT!??!
So, because I went to a coffee shop this morning to have coffee with a friend, I saw another friend who invited me to a concert tonight, and I said yes, and I just won $16,000 to the school I'll be attending in the Fall!? You've got to be kidding me!! Is this real life!? God is just too cool. I guess this was a huge way of him showing me that adventures can still happen at home.
So, is it still difficult to be home earlier than the rest of my squad? Yeah, I guess that hasn't changed. But do I feel like God set up these blessings and divine appointments? Absolutely.
