Leaving in September changes a lot of things, but it doesn’t change everything.
Some things that aren’t changing:
1. My inspiration for the World Race has always been from Ephesians 5:2. I even put it on the back of my fundraising t-shirts. “Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.” And that’s what I plan on doing, that has been my mission all along, and it’s not changing. I plan to go love on people all around the world the way Christ did.
2. Surprisingly, my route doesn’t change TOO much. I’m excited about this because I had fallen in love with my January 2015 Route 3. So the countries that haven’t changed are: Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Thailand, Swaziland, Botswana, and South Africa.
3. I’m still going to be gone for 11 months. I’m still going to travel to 11 countries.
Some things that are changing:
1. I get 4 new countries! Honduras, Japan, Laos, Cambodia. Unfortunately, this means I had to say goodbye to the DR, Malaysia, Philippines… and the hardest – I had to say goodbye to Haiti. Most of you know that Haiti was my first (and only) mission trip I’ve been on, and I fell in love with the country, the people, and the culture. Knowing I’m not going back next year is hard, but I’m also convinced I’ll be back one day. So it actually wasn’t as heartbreaking to give up Haiti as I thought it would be. So my new route (pending any route changes) will be
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Japan, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe/Botswana, South Africa
Don’t ask me why there is a slash between Zimbabwe and Botswana… I can only assume this means that we might be near the border of the two countries? (Which would be awesome because this is close to Victoria Falls.)
2. My financial deadlines. So now my financial deadlines are as follows:
$7,500 by August 22, 2014
$11,000 by December 1, 2014
$16,255 by March 2, 2015
This means that I will need all of my funds to be in 4 months earlier than I had previously needed them. This was a huge fear of mine when deciding to switch launch dates. However, God has come through in huge ways since I’ve made the decision, and more money has shown up in my account within the past month than I had raised in the first 3 months of fundraising. I’m telling y’all, God is good. All the time.
(For those of you who are incredibly observant, you will notice that the cost of my trip increased by $13. This is simply to account for the insurance I’m required to purchase being priced differently for each launch date – not really a big deal.)
3. Training camp is changing! So my training camp was supposed to be in October… now it’s in 2 weeks. So those months I thought I had between now and then to purchase gear? I suddenly don’t have those anymore. For an indecisive person like me, this is probably a good thing. I don’t have time to fret over exactly which type of tent, sleeping bag, headlamp, etc. I need. Because bottom line, I need one! If it gets the job done, and is in my price range – I’ll take it. This is no time to be picky! (Except with my sleeping pad purchase. I plan on being very picky about choosing my mattress for the next year.)
4. My squad is changing! I applied for the January 2015 launch back in February, and I was accepted on March 6th. I was one of the first people on my squad to be accepted, (simply because I applied so dang early) and I was able to watch as people continued to get added to route 3. I loved seeing new squad mates pop up on the participants page of the WR website. I loved welcoming them into our squad, and getting to know them via social media. I was fairly convinced I would show up to camp already feeling connected to my squad, and I’d know everyone by name.
Well did you hear the part about how my training camp is 2 weeks away? For my new squad, I was definitely not one of the first people on the squad. In fact, I very well may be the LAST person to join the squad. I don’t know anyone. I’m not even going to be able to learn all of their names by camp. (Let’s be honest, there are swimmers I’ve coached for 3+ years now, and I still can’t tell you their names. There’s no way I’m learning 50 new names in two weeks.) I’ve never been the new kid at school, but I think my first day at camp might feel a little like that kid’s first day at school. But that’s okay! Since I haven’t been able to use the Internet to meet my squadmates, I have no pre-conceived ideas about who I might get along best with, or who I’m most like. I’ll get the chance to know them personally, in a real, face-to-face way.
So that’s the gist of how changing launch dates has effected things! If you feel led to help me meet my upcoming financial deadlines, and join this race with me, please consider donating towards my trip by clicking here!
