August 28, 2018 is the day that my World Race experience ended.
That 11 months was so many things for me. It was wonderful, it was really hard, I saw God move in ways I didn’t expect, I cried, I often wondered, “Oh my gosh, what the heck is my life right now?” and I’ll forever look back fondly on this time.
I can’t believe I can say that it’s been two years since this journey began, and more than a year since it ended.
Life has looked a lot different since I boarded that first plane leaving home at the San Francisco airport two years ago.
I think, for me, there are so many little things I’ve learned and that I do differently now that it’s impossible to describe or even notice all of them, but I can think of a couple.
During the World Race, every day revolved around a mission and a goal. Usually, that changed day to day, but every morning, we knew we were doing something for God’s kingdom.
Every day- the good days, when I had more fun dancing and singing and playing games with Gypsy children than I ever thought possible, and the harder days, like the 15th day spent painting the inside of a building plain white- felt like it had a purpose.
Since we know that God will use everything that we do for him for someone’s good, every day on and off the mission field does have a purpose. But on the Race, my purpose felt so much more real and intentional.
That’s been one hard thing since it ended- it’s harder to see the purpose in living my everyday life for God. Being extra nice to a grumpy customer at REI where I’ve worked for the last year just doesn’t feel the same as playing a pickup game of soccer with street kids in Romania. I know God is working in both places in ways I don’t understand, but it still doesn’t feel the same.
One other thing that’s been hard since coming back to America is that the community I had the honor of being part of isn’t there anymore. I still love my former teammates so much, but now they’re far away. We don’t have those special shared experiences anymore. Now I don’t have anyone that I travel with, live with, cook and eat with, work and serve with, pray and worship with, and spend free time with. There is no one that is going through all of the same experiences as I am, and that’s been hard for me.
I know I owe a big part of all the personal growth I saw on the Race to my teammates, the people who knew me well enough to know when I was having an off day, pushed me to work hard and be vulnerable, and supported and loved me when I was struggling. I love all of you so much. I miss you.
As you may know, upon returning to the States, I didn’t go back to my hometown in California- I went to Montana, where my family had settled while I was away. It’s been a fun year of getting to know my new home, exploring and making some new friends and getting to know a new community of people.
It’s been a huge blessing to spend so much time with my family for the last year, but I knew before I came home that I was going to leave again. I didn’t know when I would go or where I was going, but I knew I wouldn’t stay there forever.
Then God dropped a new opportunity in my lap in November of last year, and since then I’d been preparing to move to China to teach English to students at an international university, where I’ve been for a little over two months now.
Soon I’ll share another blog with more details on my new life in China.
To my supporters, friends and family, I can’t thank you enough that you poured out your prayers and financial support to make it possible for me to go on the World Race.
Not only was so much good work done in 11 countries, but God used that time to change my heart also. I look at the world differently, with a newfound sense of adventure in chasing after God and seeing his kingdom come.
Much love,
Lauren
