Here’s a little info dump of the last few days to share with you all. When we get to India, I should be able to post once a week.
I am with my teammates in Atlanta right now at Launch, preparing to leave for India on Monday (Launch is the final session of prep, roughly four days, before we leave the country). We’re all in a state of disbelief, constantly repeating, “we’re really doing this, we’re really beginning the World Race!”, in an attempt to make this whole thing sink in. But we can’t really rush the process – I have the feeling it will only make sense once we’re there. There’s nothing wrong with that either; it just feels surreal.
Many of us said goodbye to our parents today. There was a Parent Launch going on at the same time as ours, which was an opportunity to settle some of their questions and toss in a last goodbye. My grandmother and mama were there, and I’m so glad for it. It was something special to have an intergenerational send-off.
I’m blanketed in prayer and held in love –
and so, so ready to leave.
The joy of being reunited with my squad and living alongside them gave me a fresh wave of excitement, and although I am grateful for the next day or two of additional training, I’m itching to be on that plane already. Patience is a virtue, and one I’ll have to become very familiar with in the next few months; it just so happens that God has a sense of humor and has decided to let me practice in the meantime.
Keys
The picture that I’ve been trying to post above (wifi keeps crashing) ties into a new ministry idea specific to our Gap Year. This year, one of the Adventures in Missions staff took keys, stamped with a wide range of labels, and prayed over them with his family. With a little spiritual nudge they matched keys to the names given to them, and so each key was distributed to someone this weekend at Launch. The intended purpose of this is that each Racer carry around their key and take it to heart. To keep its message as a reminder to invite into our lives, as something to live out. It becomes a part of your journey, and at some point, we may even feel called to pass on the key to another in need of it.
My key is Courage.
I keep thinking back to the quote from C.S. Lewis’ famous Chronicles of Narnia, a moment where little Lucy stands before the great lion Aslan and confesses that she wasn’t brave enough to complete her calling. Aslan responds along the lines of, “if you were any braver, dear heart, you’d be a lioness.” My takeaway from that fantastical exchange is the invitation to have fierce faith. To embrace the courage of a lion.
I would ask that you pray for my squad and I as we enter into this new chapter of our lives. Although we are already on the race, many of us, myself included, still have to finish our fundraising journey. I am so, so grateful to each and every one of you for giving what you can and how you can, whether that be financially or by keeping us in your thoughts. Please keep praying for our health and safety as we travel.
Much love and prayers to all of you- thank you for your continued support & love & words of affirmation. I treasure it all.
Will write again when I’m able ??
