So what happens, exactly, when you get medically evacuated from a country in the middle of an 11-month mission trip? Do you get a job? Keep posting blogs? Go back to your normal life?
For the past five weeks, I’ve been slowly figuring out the answers. Get a job? Yes, after a fashion. Keep posting blogs? Maybe. Go back to normal life? HA!
Of all the questions, whether to continue blogging has been the hardest to answer. Do I have a right to publish my life now that I’m no longer traveling? Would posting be meaningful, or just add to the noise?
Sarah, you have no idea the impact
your blogs have. Even if it only impacts
one or two people, is it worth it to you
for those people?
Yes.
So there you go, then.
*Sigh.* Sometimes the Holy Spirit really has a way of convicting me.
Speaking of the Holy Spirit, God has been doing a work in my heart, teaching and showing me so many things about baptism of the Holy Spirit, the two trees in the story of Genesis, the difference between spirit, soul and body, and how all these things relate to my calling as a member of the Kingdom of God. I’m so excited to share what I’ve been learning with you, but I also realize that those of you who don’t get my text updates (which is still going, by the way, in case you’re interested!) would probably like to know what life has looked like after the race as well as my plans for the future.
Sooooo… this blog will focus on the work God has given me over the past 8 weeks (Can you believe it’s been 8 weeks since we came home? Yeah, me neither) as well as how he’s shaping my plans for the future. I’ll talk more about what God has been teaching me in a separate blog, to follow.
How’s that for a teaser? 😉
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For a quick recap, we were in Azerbaijan when we received the news we would be headed home. In about 5 days, we had gone from “stay the course” to landing on American soil 3.5 months earlier than we’d planned.
A few days before we got on the plane, I started thinking about where I was going to live and what I was going to do. As I prayed about it, I happened to look down at my pearl bracelet. The memory of where I’d gotten it was so vivid and out of place that it could have only been from God.
So I sent a quick text to Jenny Winter.
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A Brief History of Winter-dom
August 2018: Caleb Winter is assigned to my 7th grade cohort at CAMS.
October 2018: At our first conference, Jenny Winter asks if she can pray for me. I almost start crying. Hearing that I was planning to leave for the Race and needed to raise 20K, Tim and Jenny immediately give a very generous donation. I am shocked and thankful.
April 2019: Caleb goes to the doctor after being sick for about four weeks. No one expects leukemia; yet, the Winter family suddenly finds themselves in a year of strict quarantine and hospital stays, with a 3.5 year treatment plan and 8 years before Caleb will be considered “in remission”, assuming everything goes well.
*You can read more about Caleb’s journey at his caring bridge.
June 2019: I’m at training camp, sitting in a fundraising seminar. The leader asks us to pray about who we ask. I think it’s a little sketchy, but I pray anyway and the Winter family comes to mind.
God, I am not going to ask them for money.
They have a kid with cancer, and they’ve
already given a lot. Are you sure you meant them?
Do you trust me?
Okay fine, I’ll go visit. But I am NOT asking them
for money.
I bring along Chloe Hysell, my teaching partner-in-crime. We give Caleb a hug for the first time in 4 months and hear how the family is doing. Jenny gives us both bracelets made in Haiti and some lotions as an end-of-year gift, despite us telling her that she shouldn’t have, since—you know—she has a kid with cancer. She also mentions a downstairs granny-flat, complete with kitchen, saying that we could live there for free whenever we wanted.
Aw man, I think. That would be so fun. If only I was going to come back to America for longer than a month…
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Conversations (Pt.1)
Surely the Winters won’t let me stay. I’ve been
overseas, exposed. There’s no way they’re going
to let me into their house.
Do you know that?
No, but…
In the middle of all of this, Caleb’s siblings
are getting lost. I see them, and I want them
to know that they are loved. I am sending
you to be my hands and feet of love to
them and the whole family. The race
continues, Sarah. You follow me.
* * * * *
Me:
Hey Jenny! I remember you said you have a downstairs
wing… we just found out we’re coming home, and I was
thinking you guys might need some help around the house.
Washing things, homeschooling kids, cleaning, driving
kids places, babysitting, picking up groceries, etc. Would
you be open to exchanging room and board for something
like that? I’d love to do whatever you guys need and just
serve your family for the next three months.
Jenny:
Hey Sarah! We would love for you to come and work with the
kids, but we want to pay you for it. Doesn’t feel right to not pay
you. We are excited to see you! There is no pressure from us,
whatever you decide to do, we would love it.
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I move in on Easter, after self-quarantining for 3 weeks (just in case). Not only are they giving me free room & board, as well as meals (which, if you’ve ever tried Jenny’s cooking, is a steal), but they’re also paying me to teach, they have baby kittens we’ve been watching grow up, a pool for hot days, and an entire craft closet.
The way Jenny explains it, COVID is just another thing to add to the mile-long list of “things that could kill Caleb”. Either he lives his entire life in fear of what could happen or he trusts God to protect him.
They’ve chosen trust.
In fact, Jenny’s biggest concern about me moving in was that they would make too much noise upstairs.
Um… what? I have a dishwasher, for crying out loud! And I’m living in a space four times larger than anything we saw on the Race.
Noise? What noise?
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Adventures in Homeschooling:
Homemade Solar Ovens as part of our study on the Sun.
TJ’s was the most successful: it cooked eggs, hot dogs, and cookies!
(R-L: Mathis, me, TJ, Lydia)
“Earth Cake” with accurate layers depicting the mantle, outer, and inner core!
(Lydia won the decorating competition.)
(R-L: Mathis, me, TJ, Lydia)
Red Tide & Bioluminescence at La Jolla Tide Pools
(R-L: TJ, Lydia, Mathis, Caleb)
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The Race Goes On
This week marks the longest I’ve been in one place since August. My body is still expecting to move at any moment, but my soul recognizes that God has blessed me above and beyond anything I could ever imagine. Not only that, but he’s been opening my eyes to ministry opportunities all around me.
In an earlier post, I wrote that the Race isn’t over, it’s just been rescheduled to America. Over the last eight months I’ve learned what it means to walk with open eyes, looking for the opportunities that are all around me. For an entire year we did normal life, looking for ways God was already moving and speaking, as well as allowing him to interrupt us, if necessary.
Here are a few doors I’ve seen around me recently:
- Conversation with a youth worker about souls and what it means to gain the whole world but forfeit your soul.
- Multiple conversations with friends from church about the Holy Spirit and how he speaks, including one friend who wants to learn how to hear him!
- Ever, a believing friend who promised to teach me how to make chile relleños!
- Reconnecting with old students via Skype, and potentially setting up a time to tell them all about the Race!
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Conversations (Pt. 2)
We’re sitting on the couch watching The Chosen when Lydia crawls in my lap. On screen, Jesus is telling his disciples to go on so he can wait by the well to meet the Samaritan woman.
“Look,” I whisper in her ear. “He’s listening to the Holy Spirit. That’s how he knows to stay.”
“What’s the Holy Spirit?”
I pause in surprise. The God-person in question immediately begins whispering. This is why I sent you, Sarah, for these moments!
“The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God that He sends to live inside of us when we believe in Jesus,” I say. As I speak, I’m praying that He would press on her heart; that these words would resonate deep in her 7-year-old soul. “He speaks to us and tells us what God wants us to do. He is our friend so that we never feel alone.”
“Oh,” she says.
* * * * *
“Do you guys want to go?”
“Sure!”
I grab my keys and meet TJ, Mathis and Lydia outside. The church is having a food drive, and we’ve heard they’re giving out gifts for any kids who come through.
“Here.” Jenny hands me a ten and a bag of canned food. “Grab some milkshakes on the way home.”
It only takes a few minutes to get to church. The kids get a little goodie bag and we spend a few minutes chatting with the volunteers.
“You know,” TJ says while we’re on our way to get milkshakes, “I think if we could go back to school two days a week and do stuff like this, that would be enough.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we’re just so busy all the time. It’s kind of nice not to be, for a while.”
I just smile. We sit in silence for the rest of the drive, summer wind blowing through our hair.
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Prayer Requests:
Germany:
For those of you who don’t know, back in January I accepted an offer to teach Chemistry at an international school in Germany. I am currently doing online school to prepare for teaching in the IB program while trying to get everything together. Here are some of the details you can be praying over:
- I have a place to live. However, to sign the rental contract I need proof of income, which I don’t have right now since I don’t have an official job.
- I’ve been asked to get a different type of Visa to be sure I will be allowed in. Unfortunately, the consulate is not open yet for visa applications. I am not sure when it will reopen. To get the visa, I will need:
- Health Insurance, which I currently don’t have since California doesn’t allow short term coverage.
- A rental agreement (see above)
- That I would remember to do online school (already missed one deadline, whoops!) to prepare for teaching IB curriculum.
- I’ve ordered a background check (required for work visa), but it can take up to 8 weeks to arrive. Please pray it comes in time!
- For all other details, including selling my car, shipping my stuff, quarantine on arrival, etc.
For the Winters:
- That Caleb would stay healthy: If he gets sick or if his counts go down, he will immediately be put in the hospital, in isolation (not even his parents are allowed to visit!).
- Continued recovery for Caleb: he is gaining back muscle and energy right now. His hair is back, and growing in curly!
- That the Lord would continue to give me opportunities to speak into the Winters’ lives, and that I would be a help and comfort to them.
- For TJ, Mathis, and Lydia, that they would feel God’s love in the middle of all of this.
- For Tim and Jenny, that their marriage would remain strong, and that they would continue to love their children and others well.
- That the national park RV-trip they’ve been planning for 2 years would be able to go forward!
