Chapters of Life

My dear friends, although "the end” is now here, I know it is not really the end. The journey continues. 

The future lies ahead, which is beyond enough and it is so exciting! It breaks my heart however, to have to say goodbye to this chapter. I’m unsure if any chapter could measure up the sweetness of this one.

As I sit here amongst my people, looking back over the past nine months, memories flood my mind. 

Swaziland- Dancing in the rain, singing with preschoolers, chickens in our room at 3am, painting, a frog and an egg in our toilet, cooking and singing, walking to church talking about Bob Goff and watching a goat give birth. In Swaziland we found joy and it was the beginning of this sweet community.

Lesotho - Innumerable breathtaking stars, village visits, hand washing laundry, cookies and apples, late night card games and movies, morning walks and watching the sun rise and set over the beautiful mountains, witnessing the power of healing in seeing our translator struck by lightning. In Lesotho was where I discovered love and true family.

India - A real struggle full of bugs, humidity, squatty potties, dengue fever and multiple hospital visits, plates and plates of papaya, Kurtas, Sarees, preaching and praying over people at different churches every night, uncomfortability, Christmas parties, and abundant laughter. We leaned into the uncomfortable, because it’s there where growth occurs. 

Nepal - Dirt and pollution, walking at least six miles a day, rooftops and coffee shops, stairs on stairs on stairs, endurance, seeing hard things, going into slums and dance bars, looking into people’s eyes, meeting them where they’re at, not trying to save them but simply being and seeing them through eyes of love. Nepal was raw and real; I saw the tangible love and action of the Gospel. 

Nicaragua - Excitement, anticipation, reuniting with parents and remembering, jumping off docks, serving food to people working in a trash dump, worship and feet-washing, happy tears and lots and lots of hugs. 

Guatemala - Color and joy, countless worship nights, Cheeks (our pet rabbit), conversations, being pushed into greater growth, all the coffee, chocolate bananas everyday, teaching English, painting murals, baking and choosing sunshine and light, leading bible studies and seeing lives changed, our sweet hosts, everything coming full circle, hiking a volcano while watching the neighboring one erupt all night with lava glittering down, laughing and crying at all the moments and memories that we made together.

I just want to say thank you so SO much to everyone who helped support me throughout this entire journey. Whether it was financially or through continual prayers, comments or communication, so many lives all around the world have been changed, including my own.

I don’t really have words at this point to describe just how difficult it is going to be to leave what has become family, and what has become life. But this is the end. I will begin traveling to the U.S. tomorrow night, but I won’t be back in Kansas until the 7th. Your prayers for this transition would be greatly appreciated. I love you all dearly and I will leave you with the final verse that I found on the wall of our home in Swaziland on our first day. 

"In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything."

-2 Corinthians 6:3-10-

#theworldrace #worldrace #chaptersoflife #throughitall #beginningtoend