The Race has been something I will never forget. Some called it an opportunity of a lifetime, others called it a vacation… It was FAR from that. I called it a chapter. A season. A piece of the journey I’m on with my heavenly father.
I met people I hold dear to my heart. I saw things and places I will never forget, and I saw side of God and myself I’ve never seen before. I saw God move, yes. I saw Jesus’ words come to life, yes. BUT I didn’t need to come on an 11 month mission trip to experience those things. You don’t have to either. You just need to open your eyes to see people around you. Open your ears to hear and discern his voice. Be obedient to his prompting, and have faith that he CAN and WILL use you.
My Race didn’t begin September 9th when I left America. My Race began a long time ago when I signed up to be a follower of Christ. When I decided to put him and others before myself.When I decided to consider it pure JOY to endure trials of many kinds. When HIS will became more important than MY will…
God made this dream a reality when he called me into his kingdom. BUT the race was made for each of us. We’re on our own Race. Each day is another leg of the Race of life. Each day we’re one step closer to hearing “well done good and faithful servant.”
I thank God daily for the opportunities I’ve been given. But I also wanted to thank YOU. My faithful followers. My supporters. My friends and family. My biggest fans.
To my Mom: I remember when I first told you about the Race. You thought I was CRAZY. You didn’t want me to go AT ALL. You were scared of the what ifs and uncertainties. BUT overtime God softened your heart. You became excited for me. You donated money and helped me raise support. You took care of gear, my bank statements and helped me organize my financial situations. You encouraged me, prayed for me, cried with me, celebrated with my milestones, and shared in my suffering. You enthusiastically shared my story with people and invited to come along. Mom, when people didn’t believe in me…You did. You commented on all of my blogs and photos. You worried for me. You kept me updated on life back home. You stayed up hours talking on skype with me, even though we were in opposite time zones. You worked overtime to make extra money to support me monthly financially. You saved up a bunch of money to fly to Thailand to spend a week with me. You bought in Mom. You said YES too. You trusted God with your baby, even when you didn’t want to. You made my dreams a reality. You were my rock, my cheerleader, and one of my biggest fans. I am eternally grateful to have a mother and friend like you. Thanks for pouring love and blessings over me and for never giving up on me.
To my sister: Lord knows this was hardest on you of anyone. You cried the most tears of anyone I know. And look at you! You made it through a whole year without your sissy!! You may not supported me financially but you were probably my BIGGEST encouragement. You always told me how proud of me you were. You constantly reminded me off how missed and loved I was. You called, face timed, and texted just because. You told me about things I was missing out on, and made me feel included. You made me feel like I was missed. You always gave me the biggest smiles. You always bragged about proud you were of me to your patients. You were my middle man connection to get a hold of meme and mom when skype wouldn’t work. You asked about my team. You prayed for me, encouraged me, and loved me so well, even thousands of miles away. Your’e such a gift from God and I’m so glad he chose ME to be your big sister. Love you with my whole heart.
To my Meme: You already got me crying! Leaving you I thought for sure would be the hardest thing ever… Well, I made it. A whole year without my meme. But it was NOT easy. I remember when I first told you about the Race. You were the first person I told, and the only person who supported me and didn’t call me crazy. You have been one of my biggest fans from the begining and for that I am forever grateful. Meme YOU were my right hand man. You helped me with all of my paper work. You signed up to be my power of attorney and you handled all my legal documents. You filed my taxes. You signed my living will. You helped me plan, prepare, and pack. (4 times) You cooked me meals and gave me a bed to sleep in when I was homeless. You also prayed with me and for me. You hugged me, cried with me, you came to my fundraisers, and helped with them also. You didn’t let me give up and reminded me why I started in the first place. You listened to me vent about my worries and fears and gently pushed me to the feet of Jesus. You’ve been my mailman, my middleman, my voice of reason, my mentor, counselor, my confidante, and my friend. You stayed up for hours reminicing memories with me. You let me cry to you and you consoled me. You’ve given me monthly support financially, and emotionally. You drove me to launch and you were the last person I hugged before I said my final goodbyes. I feel forever endebted to you. But I am eternally grateful for you. God broke the mold when he made you and bringing you into my life was the greatest gift next to life he’s ever given me. Thank you for always going over and beyond and for being my Best Friend.
To Chris and Michelle Roberts:What a blessing you have been to me! You and your girls are like family! I have so many memories I treasure so dearly because of you. I’ve been knowing about 4-5 years now and what a blessing it’s been! Thank you both for your friendship, prayers, and financial support. You were one of my top supporters and this would not of been possible without you. Thank you for buying me gear and for hosting my gear party. Thank you for making all the food and the preparations. Thank you for providing with a beautiful gym and membership until I left. Thank you for trusting your girls into my care. Thank you for listening. Thank you for talking with me. Thank you for believing in me and encouraging me even though it seemed crazy. Thank you for the countless hours, time, energy, and effort you put in. Michelle thank you for making my green tutu for training camp. Thank you for your monthly emails, checking in on me and keeping me updated on life. I love you more than you will ever know. Thank you both from the bottom of my heart.
To Grandma Lois: I wanted to say thank you for your continuous support and unconditional love. You have alwyas been there cheering me on. Your sweet emails and messaged have been so encouraging and kept me going. Thank You for the financial support and your faithful prayers. And thank you for always having my back! Love you to the moon and past the stars.
To Grandma Mary: So much of my fundraising came from First Christian Church, because you went to bat for me. Thank you for being my middle man and speaking on my behalf. Thank you for your emails and updates. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers and for being my temporary storage unit. Your financial support was such a blessing and I’m so grateful for you standing in my corner cheering me on. You have been such a blessing throughout this journey.
To Clay and Sam Poole: Words can not express my gratitude for you. You were my FIRST supporters financially and proved to me Gods’ faithfulness. You and your family have been such an encouragement through this whole thing, from your monthly updates to saying bedtime prayers with the boys and always including me. Your prayers, love and encouragement is so appreciated and a large part of what kept me going day to day. Your friendship is one of lifes greatest blessings, thank you just doesn’t seem to be enough.
To Bill and Shirley Wyland (My angels): To think I met you in a Wal-Mart parking lot STILL blows my mind. I thank God DAILY for divine appointment and for bringing you into my life. You were my BIGGEST supporters and even went over and beyond and supported me monthly even after I was fully funded. I wonder sometimes if I’d even be here without you. Thank you for always thinking of me and for sharing our story. I’ve told it to people in EVERY country and they were amazed. It STILL amazes me. Thank you for loving me like one of your own children. Thank you for sending me emails and updates, and for your continued prayers. Thank you for providing me with a brand new laptop. It was the biggest most unexpected blessing I’ve ever received. I am eternally blessed to know you and so grateful God brought you unexpectedly into my life. You will forever be, my angels and dearest friends.
To Kayli Canganelli: When I first received your donation my jaw litterally DROPPED. I was blown away by Gods faithfulness and your obedience. It was selfless and totally admirable. Your obedience to God inspired me. I hope I can bless someone one day the way you blessed me. I wasn’t the reason you donated, you told me you believed in what I was doing and you wanted to be apart of it. I guess what surprised me the most is that we were basically strangers. Although we attended the same high school and even saw each other on occasion. We were worlds apart, with different friend groups, different sports, and interests. But that didn’t stop you from donating. I have loved seeing our friendship develop over email and can’t wait to visit in person and get to know each other more. Your friendship is a blessing and I am so very thankful God brought you into my life and along for the journey.
To Ashleigh and Sonja: Timing for our friendship was perfect. Lord knows we needed eachother in the last season of our lives. Then more than ever. You encouraged me, cried with me, prayed with me and for me, challenged me, called me higher, and loved me through some deep stuff. I will be forever grateful for your friendship. Thank you for being there, for listening, giving advice, thank you for the sleepovers, late night junk food runs, helping me fundraise, for cheering me on, buying me gear, reading my blogs, and always for bringing me to the feet of Jesus. Although I have missed you over the last year, I always felt your spirit with me. Your friendship is one that I truly treasure.
To Devin and Ol Jess: Thank you for the laughs. Too many to count. Thank you for the late night cries, debates, and remincing. Your messages and facetime dates have been most encouraging and always at the perfect time. Thank you for your prayers, constantly sending words of encouragement, for tagging me in photos and making me feel missed, and for always believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.
To CUMC Youth: Leaving you guys was HARD. Probably hardest of all. I constantly wondered if I was making a huge mistake, leaving you. When you struggled or walked away from the Lord I blamed myself. But the Race has helped us both grow in different ways. We weren’t together to rely on each other, we had to rely on God. Throughout the race I was tagged in posts, emailed, called and I read your letters you gave me. You made me feel extremely missed and remembered. I have missed you and prayed for you daily since I’ve been gone. Your letters and kind words have been so much encouragement. I always tell people about you and the fun memories we’ve shared. Thanks for not forgetting me and loving me so well. I Love you each so much!
To First Christian Church and Crawfordville United Methodist Church: You are the only two churches that financially supported me. I sent letters to 6 churches originally, so to hear back from you both was such a blessing! Thank you for letting me speak to the congregation and thank you for praying over me. Thank you for believing in me and encouraging me. Knowing you’re behind me continually covering me in prayer was so comforting. Thank you for everything!
To Harold and Janie Thurmond: You both are like family to me. I loved doing life with you and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you. Financially you have been one of my biggest supporters but also prayerfully. When you told me you would pray for me daily at 7 am and 7 pm I was overtaken with gratitude that you cared about me that much. Thank you for always making me feel a part of the family. Thank you for being two of the most solid Christ followers in my life and for showing me what it means to truly LIVE FOR HIM. Thank you for always encouraging me and making me feel so loved. I will be forever grateful for you.
To X-Squad: #XSQUADBESTSQUAD What a journey! A year has come and gone in the blink of an eye! This has been the best experience of my life so far. In large part because of you! We started this journey as complete strangers and we quickly became family. I have 50 forever friends and I love each of you for different reasons. We have been through the ringer! Good and bad times. Team changes. Feedback. We’ve celebrated together. Mourned together. We’ve been upset with one another and we’ve laughed until we’ve cried, countless times. Oh the laughs. We’ve made too many memories to count. Memories I will treasure forever and share with people for years to come. So Thank yous are owed to you. Thank you first and foremost for being my friend. You have loved me SO WELL. So much more than I felt I deserved. Thank you for feedback. It took me to the deepest depths and drew me closer to God. Thank you for your hugs, sweet notes of encouragement, late night talks, and puddles of tears. Thank you to the fellas, for making me feel like a princess. Thank you for showing me REAL Godly men exist. Thank you for setting the bar HIGH. I have felt so loved by you, noticed, valued, and worthy of being loved. You are going to be incredible husbands and fathers some day! To my lady frans…. You taught me about sisterhood, and for that I thank you. I used to have such ill feelings toward women because I had been so wounded by them. You taught me it’s okay to be vulnderable and let down my walls. You taught me what TRUE friendship looks like. You taught me how to fight for eachother. Thank you for being a safe place for me. Thank you for the countless prayers and encouragement. I truly believe you are some of the greatest women I know. Thank you for sisterhood. X-squad, it’s never goodbye but see you later. We will always have each other and the memories we’ve made. Thanks for the laughs, the tears, the hard conversations, moments of silence, for sayin the thing, for accepting me, pursuing me, challenging me, calling me higher, and loving me unconditionally. Thanks for ALL THE THINGS. Love you mean it!
To AshFran, Joey, Kylie, Jacie, Matt, Ricci, Clint and Mama and Papa Powell:Having you all lead this squad has been the greatest blessing. I have felt nothing but loved by each of you. You have lead by example…How to live in community and love others well.You taught me what it means to be a follower not a believer. You taught me crying isn’t a weakness, but a strength, for it takes a strong person to cry. You taught me to be secure in my identity. You challenged me to seek after the fathers heart. You pursued MY heart and cared about my growth. You put my growth over your comfort. You laughed with me, cried with me, spent countless hours on your knees in prayer over me. You taught me to SEE people. Thank you for giving up a year of your life to walk with me through mine. Thank you for your obedience, your sacrifice, and your love for God and his people. Doing life with you has been a pleasure and a priviledge. X-squad would not be X-squad without you! You each hold a special place in my heart and I am so blessed by each of you. I can thankfully call you friend and even family. Thank you doesn’t do justice for all the gratitude I have for you. Love you all more than words. I could not imagine another group of leadership shepherding this flock.
Thank you doesn’t seem sufficient. I just can’t seem to find the words to express my gratitude for everyone who has been a part of my journey. They say our greatest days are still ahead, and I am so expectant there are far greater things ahead of me- things I hope to share snd experience with all of you.
