Yesterday, my squad and I landed in Miami and our World Race is officially over. Dang, the Lord has done a lot over the last nine months.

I figured I’d write a blog to anyone considering the race or if you just wanna know what it’s like. Some of the expectations that I had going into it vs. what it’s actually like. 

You may see aesthetically pleasing pictures of the race and think, “Wow I really want to do that!”. Believe me I’ve been there!

You may hear stories of how God healed someone or how radically someone accepted Jesus and think, ”I could never do that.” 

The world race is so much more than that. I went into expecting to do a lot of ministry and a little adventure.

Well. I was wrong about that. I learned that life IS ministry. I learned how to better my relationship with Jesus. The WR doesn’t just send you out with nothing. They disciple and send. 

I had to abandon a lot of my old thinking and comforts for the race.

Like expecting to have warm showers or clean clothes all the time.

I had to learn how to live out of a tent, which was more of a struggle than I imagined it would be. 

I didn’t always feel clean (especially in Costa Rica where it was pretty much 100° humidity every day). 

I had to give up my phone. I could only connect to internet once or twice a week. I learned that not having cellular data was kinda nice and without it, i could better pursue intentional relationship.

I learned that the wr is actually rarely beautiful pictures but pictures that are dear to my heart because of the people in them and the memories attached to them. 

I learned how to live in healthy community and how to implement that when I go home. 

These are only a few things to expect from the race, but it’s not actually the race that teaches you these things. Yes, they definitely do play a significant part in it, but YOU have to make decisions for yourself. The wr isn’t responsible for your life. You are. You can choose in or you can choose out. 

So, while there were hard days and really good days, I constantly had the choice of whether or not I would live that day to the fullest.