11 in 11

I got to spend 11 months traveling the world, loving people and Jesus, and making incredible memories. In order to celebrate the end of the Race, I’ve made a list of 11 moments to remember these wonderful 11 months. Some of them are more serious and some are silly and random; I hope it gives you a sweet overview of what this year was.

11+ New Friends

Thanks to the Race, I’ve made so many incredible friends. I’ve gotten to meet countless brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe and gotten to experience beautiful, new ways to worship God. They’ve taught me so much through the way that they love deeply and fully. I’ve also gained amazing friends and sisters through my Squad Mates. I was so unbelievably blessed to be on L Squad with 17 other incredible women, 2 amazing Alumni Squad Leaders, 1 badass Mentor, and 2 of the kindest Coaches in the world.

Goodness… every single day with these girls was an adventure!

10 Countries of Structured Ministry

During my 11 months of traveling, I was able to visit and explore 14 different countries, which is absolutely mind-blowing! In 10 of those countries, we did structured ministry with different churches or organizations. It’s so cool to be able to see and help so many amazing people glorifying God and serving others.

Hope Church in Romania was one of my favorite ministries to work with.

9 Months with My World Race Best Friend

Claudia Marie Gruett is the most incredible World Race best friend anyone could ask for. From the moment when we bonded at training camp over musicals and Disney, I knew that she was someone I’d want around for a while. I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am that she was on my first team and that I got to spend 9 whole months living with her.

Can’t wait to see you in a few weeks, Clauds!

8 Beach Adventures

I was so blessed to be able to visit a beach in multiple countries. Not only was I able to enjoy the beautifully hot sun in Costa Rica but I was also able to go cage diving in Cape Town and surfing in Jeffrey’s Bay. I was also able to take a dip in the Mediterranean Sea on a Greek island. The beach has always been one of my favorite places in the world, but after almost drowning in Jaco, it also become one of the places where I feel God the most deeply.

Never has being beat up (by the ocean) been so fun!

7 Days Each Week

One of the most powerful lessons I learned during these 11 months was about time management. We all get 7 days each week to glorify, love, and serve the Lord. In order to use that time most efficiently, we need to Sabbath each and every week. This means intentionally taking a whole day to rest in His presence, worship Him, and be recharged by His strength.

Some of my favorite Sabbaths have involved friends, adventure, and amazing food!

6 Journals

I made it my mission to buy at least one journal in each country as a keepsake. However, I overdid it a tiny bit and ended up with 23 journals. I love every single one of them and am super excited about them all. I was able to completely fill up 6 of these journals and start a seventh before coming back home. I can’t wait to look back on these in the future and see how much I’ve grown over the past year.

That’s a whole lot of journals…

5 Tattoos

I’ve been wanting to get some more tattoos for a while and the Race was a super memorable time to do it. As I grew in my relationship with God and discovered new milestones with Him, it was really special to get these permanent reminders for myself of His love and goodness.

Sarah-Katherine went with me when we went to get tattoos in Rwanda – hers turned out so cool too!

4 Continents

I can’t believe that I got to visit four different continents this year!!! It’s so wild and I still can’t fully wrap my mind around it. Our original route was supposed to take us to Nepal and India potentially, but thanks to COVID things got moved around a lot. None of us thought we would get to see any part of Asia, but then a small group of us got the opportunity to go to Turkey for our Celebration Week at the end of the Race. I can’t believe how blessed I am!

We stayed in Cappadocia, which is on the Asian side of Turkey, for 2 days!

3 Teams

I got to be a part of three awesome teams this year. It was such a blessing to be able to get to know so many of the girls on my squad in a more intentional setting. I found some of my best friends on Team Squash Sisters as they helped me settle into the rhythms of the Race throughout South and Central America. Team Golden Girls helped me sort through a lot of my anxieties and hurts surrounding love as we took on Africa together. And Europe was absolutely incredible thanks to my time on Team Happy Feet. I was able to solidify my plans for the immediate future with the support and love of my team.

I can always count on these gals for some quality gardening (that’s a squash pun right there)!

We might be ready for bed at 8:00pm, but we sure know how to party!

We were super happy with our new make overs!

2 Teams with Claire Berry

I was honestly pretty nervous about our first round of team changes. I really loved Team Squash Sisters and made some lifelong friends, so I was a bit hesitant to shake things up. One of these friends was, of course, Claire Freaking Berry. The second that I found out that she was going to be on my team again, I knew that I was going to be just fine. I’m so thankful that the Lord loves us through our friendships with others.

Isn’t she the absolute cutest!

1 God

At the end of the day, this is what it all comes down to. I got to spend 11 months of my life serving the actual Most High God, practicing loving people like Jesus did, and getting to know my Creator new in ways. I can’t get over how much He has blessed me and all the work He did in me over the past several months. He is so good!

His Word is so good! I’ve come to deeply, deeply appreciate the Bible on a whole different level.

While this list doesn’t even begin to encompass all that I got to experience and see, I hope you’ve enjoyed this fun little summary of some of the highlights of the year. I had such an amazing time and I’m so thankful for everyone who kept up with my blogs and supported me!