This blog is going to be a few things:
- What I learned from the World Race
- The Do’s and Don’ts to talking to a Racer that just came off the field
- My thoughts on ending the Race early
Can you tell I’m a 1? I just wrote a list of what I’m going to talk about…. here we go!
Goodbye WR!
Every month I asked the Lord for a word to describe what I learned that month so that I can remember what I walked through with the Lord. The words for month 1-6 were (in order): contentment, intimacy, identity, service, patience and faith. I wrote blogs called ‘Goodbye ZA and Goodbye Ecuador that explained what I learned in better detail per month.
Even though my month 7 is cut short and I won’t have a month 8 and 9 I felt like the Lord still had something for me this month. The word I so clearly got from the Lord was RELEASE. This month has been so full of change and uncontrollable circumstances. One day I was convincing myself that AIM wouldn’t pull us off the field early and then 24 hours later I was packing to go home. The one thing I had control of in this season was that I knew the last day of the World Race was May 28th. Besides that, I didn’t know anything. That one thing I had that kept me at peace was ripped away from me and here I am sitting on a plane to LA.
God told me 3 months ago to not worry about my future until I got to Cambodia. And God has quite the sense of humor because two weeks into Cambodia, He pulls us out.
God has asked me to release control of my future. I’ve had to do this before but it seemed easier when I was still living at home knowing that I was leaving for the World Race in a few months. Good thing God taught me what faith truly is last month because I’m going to need that this month.
The Do’s and Dont’s to talking to an Alumni Racer:
Let me start by saying this, I’m not one to get overwhelmed by people but I’ve had nervous poops for a week straight thinking about having to answer unanswerable World Race questions. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE talking about the Race and I want to, but broad questions like, “how was your trip,” make my eyes twitch. My biggest and most important advice would be to keep the questions as specific and digestible as you can for me. Pro tip: if you can’t answer the question about your past 7 months of your life, I can’t either.
Because I want to answer your questions I wrote a list of questions I can and want to answer:
- What was your ministry in (South Africa, Ecuador, or Cambodia)?
- Ask me to explain one of the words I got from the Lord to describe the specific months.
- What did you do on your adventure days in (South Africa, Ecuador or Cambodia)?
- What country was your favorite?
- What is the official language in each country?
- What is the culture like in (South Africa, Ecuador, or Cambodia)?
- What is it like living in community?
- What is it like living out of a backpack?
- Would you recommend the Race to someone else?
- What do your tattoos mean?
The list can obviously go on a lot longer. I just wanted to give you an idea of what I can answer.
Here are some questions that might make me burst into tears:
- How was your trip? (please please please don’t ask this one. I’ll also be able to tell who doesn’t read my blogs because someone is going to ask me this question. Muhhahahahaha!)
- What did God teach you? (He taught me a lot but that’s a loaded question, if you want to know, we can go through the words I got for each month individually)
- What are you doing now that the Race is over? (I can answer that now, I don’t know)
I’m an open book, so no question will make me uncomfortable, it’s just been 7 months of my life and I haven’t even fully processed what I just did. Please don’t be afraid to talk to me about the Race, if I can’t answer your question I’ll be honest and tell you, there’s still more we can talk about!
The End.
It’s been a wild ride. I’ve had the best and worst days. I’ve seen the Lord do some crazy things and I even doubted if He cared about me. I cried and laughed and danced and most importantly, I blew up toilets all over the world if you know what I mean. This is one of the most life changing experiences I’ve ever had.
It’s bittersweet coming home. I miss my people like crazy and I can’t wait to see them. I miss going to church, driving, Chick fil a, Target and alone time. At the same time, I love the World Race culture and it breaks my heart to have to leave it. I’ve leaned so much on this journey and I wish there was more to learn. I love my teammates like crazy. I haven’t gone a single day without seeing each of them. They probably know me better then my friends in the States do. They’ve seen the good the bad and the ugly of me and still love me so much. I haven’t lived life without them in 7 months. I don’t know what I’m going to do without them.
So yeah, I’ll be in the states in a few hours. I don’t feel ready and I’m terrified. If I don’t get around to seeing everyone for a bit, I’m sorry. This is a weird, overwhelming time for me and I might need a bit of time. I love you guys and I’m so excited to see you all and tell you all about how good our God is.
See ya soon!
Total flights: 15
Total Tattoos: 2
Total times we’ve had to move: 20
Total blogs written: 20
