Wow!! Let me catch my breath. The last month and a half has been an absolute blur. I’ve wanted to blog, but just haven’t had much time. Let me give a quick rundown. It started with a week of training camp in White, Georgia for my mission trip. (Hopefully, I’ll be able to write a blog on that soon.) Then I worked summer school to complete the 100 hours I needed to finish my practicum. This also means that I officially received my masters in school counseling. WOOHOO!!! Oh wait, the only problem with that is I don’t have a job anymore, so it really is just an extremely expensive piece of paper for now. Next, I worked a week of VBS and Camp Schafer. Throw on top of all that 2 friend’s weddings and one of my best friends and his wife having their first child. Oh yeah, and then there was the World Race….planning, vaccinations, buying gear, organizing, trying to hangout with friends/family, more vaccinations (8 total), and more buying gear! I’m the type of person who makes a “to do list” just so that I can mark stuff off. Needless to say, the last 6 weeks have definitely given me my feel of that!
Everything that I had going on made it difficult for me to think about what the next 11 months is really going to look like. It wasn’t until the moment when I told my mom and sister goodbye in the airport, as they were flying to Hawaii the day before my own departure, that it really started to sink in. Life back home with my family and friends is going to continue on without me having much of a direct part in that. My sister is going to student teach and graduate college. I’m going to miss family birthdays and anniversaries. Other friends are going to get married, or have kids, or watch their kids begin to walk and talk. I’m going to miss these and numerous other special seasons of life. Needless to say that’s been a little difficult to process.
But then I think about where I’m going and what I’ve been given the opportunity to do. God has known before I was born that this is what I’d be doing for the next year of my life. My decision to leave everything and go didn’t surprise him at all. He’s been preparing me for it. He’s placed the desires, skills and gifts inside of me that will be put to use over the next year. What an honor and absolute privilege that God has chosen me to go to the nations to tell of his immeasurable love, mercy, and grace. We are going to be in places and meeting people that in their eyes have no hope. But God is already going before us to prepare the work that we are going to be doing. And while we don’t know what that is yet, the Father does! That is so comforting knowing that it’s not about me. The Father just asks us to be obedient and that’s what I’m doing by showing up and going.
I’m so excited for this incredible opportunity to go and do. While there will be some sadness along the way of things that I’m missing back home, I know that it’s totally worth it and that this is where I’m supposed to be. We are all on a journey. This crazy thing called the world race, 11 countries in 11 months, is where mine is taking me. But the really awesome part is that I’m going to come back home a different person next June. Hopefully I’ll be more like the Christian man that he created me to be. God is going to change me from the inside out. While I know the refining process is going to be extremely difficult at times, I know it’s going to be completely worth it! So here is to 11 months of adventure, excitement, and change while getting to do the Father’s work along the way!!!
This came from a blog that I read earlier today from a girl who is getting ready to come home from the race next month. She offered this advice to friends and family back home. I thought it was really good and wanted to share it with you. I've been so blessed already by the encouragement and support I've already received.
“Now, to you people who love a World Racer from home… welcome to the World Race. Believe me – you’re in this just as much as your son/daughter/brother/sister/friend. And they need you. Remember when you were in college and you would check your mailbox every day, hoping that your mom or grandma sent you a little card, ideally with $20 tucked inside? Right. That’s still the case. WRITE EMAILS. COMMENT ON BLOGS. You will never, ever fully realize how much your encouragement, love, and support really mean out here. I have gotten random emails from friends of my parents who I don’t even know since I’ve been gone and they make me smile and laugh. Communication is key. Keep in touch at the beginning, when everything is new and weird, and in the middle, when it feels like you’ve been writing emails for years and there is no end in sight, and especially at the end, when it’s so close to home, you could almost just save all of the stories until your Racer is physically sitting with you. No. Write the emails. He/She needs them badly.”
