A Few of my Favorite Things

When people ask what my favorite part of the race or the best thing I’ve seen/done so far has been, I’m at a loss for words. Not that I don’t have an answer, I just have so many that I don’t know where to start. One thing I’ve learned these past 8.5 months is that life is made up of all the small things. The tiny seemingly insignificant details are what make life so sweet and livable. Obviously the big events are important too, like the World Race as a whole, but I will always look back on this time and remember flashes, millions of glimpses that made every minute into nine months. Although there isn’t enough time left IN MY LIFE to tell you every detail (but please reach out when I get home and I would LOVE to go get ice cream and answer alll the questions), I’ve tried my best to narrow it down to the moments  that I’ll cherish forever. 

• waking up to the smell of pancakes and bacon when I’ve had corn flakes every morning for the last 2 months
• Someone offering to wash my laundry in a washing machine (with laundry detergent AND FABRIC SOFTENER) after I’ve been hand washing them with below average results for way too long
• My kids at ministry learning “I love you” in English and saying it like they mean it accompanied by the biggest hug at least 3 times every hour
• That crazy sweet text from someone back home that made me feel the most loved and missed when I low-key thought everyone forgot that I ever existed 
• When the uber/bus/taxi/tuk tuk driver spoke English so we got to talk the whole ride and I heard about their life in that country and shared the love of Jesus/ spoke truth into their life (it’s also the best when they were already believers so I got to have deep Gospel conversations and we encouraged one another like nobody’s business and then when I was getting out we would exchange information and go get coffee sometime)
• The first healing I witnessed. The moment I grasped the fact that my God today is the very same one I read about in that book.
• That time I played catch (with a volleyball haha) for an hour with my bus driver that could not speak any English and it was the most fun I had that whole week
• When we rescued/stole a dog and brought it back to the base without asking anyone and then ended up keeping it until it’s owners came a week later
• Squad movie nights in the living room when the boys got more excited about chic flicks than the girls did
• When new tattoos/piercings were the most talked about subject second only to Jesus himself 
• Only having one roommate instead of seven when we moved to South Africa. SUCH A BEAUTIFUL THING 
• The first day we did outreach in a squatter camp and I had at least four kids holding onto me before I had both feet out of the van. An image I will NEVER forget
• Dancing with 50+ children to Bible songs in the 90 degree heat and feeling like life could never get any better
• every single time God used me as his hands here on earth and let me be a part of healings and other miracles 
• All the times Holy Spirit gave me a million and four verses (that I didn’t even know I knew) when someone had questions about my faith or the Bible or anything of the sort
• Valentine’s Day when the guys treated us like QUEENS and I got to dress up and feel semi girly for the first time on the whole race
• Hearing God speak in times when I doubt he ever will again
• SOUTH AFRICAN CHURCH!!! Indescribable.
• The colors, smells, and sounds of a Thai night market
• Not being able to read anything ever because it is all in Burmese
• Bubble tea
• Meeting people from all over the world at the international church we go to that month
• Staying in a hostel with 22 other people in one room for 3 weeks
• God opening windows of opportunity to share the gospel with those people^
• Dinner being 60 cents
• The undeserved and overabundant hospitality and love my ministry host displays, a glimpse of Christ
• 18 hour bus rides to the next country that I really don’t hate as much as I made it seem in the moment 
• The look on our kids’ faces when we brought 3 boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts to ministry that one day

I could go on for the rest of ever but I’ll put a comma there for now. With only two weeks left until I kiss the sweet soil of the states, as I reflect on this journey all I get are countless individual glances at every moment that made this season what it was. 

Thank you for sticking right beside me this whole time, keeping up with my blogs, and supporting me every step of the way, it has made every bit of difference. See y’all soon!