Hello, everyone!
So as we get closer to my launch date, I thought it would be fun to tell you all a little bit about how I came to this amazing journey called the World Race. Since committing to the WR, it seems like almost everyone I meet has heard of someone going on the WR or knows someone who has been on the WR. But before November, I had never heard of the World Race. In fact, I already had plans to move to Dallas and live with one of my best friends as I started teaching. But, as you know if you’ve lived any amount of time with the Lord, His plan is always different than ours.
So, as God’s providence would have it, this past fall we got a new Director of Strength and Conditioning at Texas A&M, and she just happened to be the coach for the men’s and women’s Swimming and Diving programs. Her name was Tanna Burge. After the first few weeks of the fall semester, I had heard that Tanna was a Christian, but I still didn’t know much about her. One day I went to volunteer at Still Creek Ranch, a wonderful school for kids with hurting pasts located just outside College Station. When the ranch was first checking me out to volunteer, the interviewer noticed my Swimming and Diving shirt.
“Oh, you swim for Texas A&M? Do you know Tanna Burge?!”
And I was like, “Yeah, I know Tanna! I see her every day because she’s my strength coach!”
“Oh, well Tanna goes to my church and she is like a SUPER LEGIT Christian. She’s been on the World Race!”
And I, not wanting to be the super NOT legit Christian, quietly nodded my head and pretended like I knew what she was talking about.
The next day I walked up to Tanna in the weight room and yelled, “So I heard you’ve been on the Amazing Race!” (Since committing to the Race I’ve learned this is a rather common mix-up for people).
Tanna nodded with an amused smile. “You mean the World Race?”
“Yeah, right.” I responded casually, trying to play it off (unsuccessfully). “So…what is that?” I asked. She explained that it was an 11-month-long mission trip to 11 countries, I asked her where she had gone, and I pondered it all for a moment.
“That sounds like something I would do, but I know God wants me to write a book so I’m going to move to Dallas and work on that next year while I teach.”
“Well it’s definitely not for everyone,” Tanna responded.
And that was that.
Or so I thought. I was intrigued enough with the prospect of the World Race and my weight coach’s participation in it that instead of studying for my midterm later that morning, I decided to go look up this “World Race thing” to see just how “legit” Tanna really was. I simply googled the name, clicked on the website, and started poking around. I read a few blogs, watched a video, and suddenly everything in my life came together in a cataclysmic moment where I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was exactly what God wanted ME to do. I proceeded to “pray” about it for a few days before applying, but I knew without praying what God wanted from the very first moment I heard about the World Race.
So here I am, four months later, fully funded and fully committed to the journey of a lifetime with God and His people. And it is a journey I can’t wait to share with you all!
Over the past few months, Tanna has become a great friend, mentor, and role model to me, and I thought it would be helpful if all of you could experience the same wisdom and beautiful soul I get to interact with almost every day. Future racers, I hope her advice will bring you clarity and help you as you prepare for the Race. Friends and family, please watch this video, as well, because Tanna has some advice for you, too!
