Searchlight

 When we were nearing the end of our Race around October, we were all contacted by the Kingdom Dreams staff at AIM and told about a *free* conference that would be held in January to help us with our next steps. Personally, I was super pumped. I love free things, knew I didn't have a clear answer for what was going to happen after the Race, I would finally get to see what's so great about Gainesville, and it's a built-in squad reunion! Why wouldn't I sign up? Some of my squadmates took a little convincing, but I jumped on the boat back when they falsely advertised they would only take 40 participants and registration would end in a week (good marketing strategy, guys).

Here's how I defined it in my final evaluation:

An extremely beneficial week that will help you navigate your next step by providing counsel, encouragement, and options for your post-Race life.

Carrie and I re-enacted our first trip to Georgia  (October 2010), though our route was slightly altered. Started on Thursday in DFW, drove to Holly Springs, MS to pick up Rachael, then finally ended in Tuscaloosa to stay at the Springer's house. We were greeted with big bowls of chili, glasses of wine,  & very interesting cats, as well as a notable suitcase/steep driveway situation that showed how road-weary I'd become.

On Friday we drove the final leg of the journey and had our squad party! What a wonderful feeling to walk into a house of the people who loved you so well during the past year...who know everything about you and still manage to like you. Thank you Barnes family for being the best hosts ever and for putting all other WR coaches to shame :)

The following 6 days were a whirlwind of sessions, silly games & contests, intimate worship, making big decisions, and receiving coaching and advice from some wise, kinda famous people including Andrew Sherman, Seth Barnes Jr. & Sr., Jimmy McCarty (did you know he's into musicals?), & Jeff Goins, to name a few. Although sometimes it felt like school and I had trouble paying attention with my missionary-mush brain, I was so blessed by every aspect of the week.

The most beneficial time for me was the coaching-- a two hour slot designed to help apply what you learned that day to tangible "steps", with help from a coach. My coach was Chris, a minor league baseball player (see, more famous people. Gainesville is crawling with celebs) that has a passion for helping others find their dreams. Even though there were times when things got tedious and you just didn't think you could answer one more question about the future, I loved going away with so many practical ways to help my dream pan out.

Besides helping me find my dream and figure out the next steps, it helped to be with other people that were in the same boat. In the six weeks of being home I really started worrying that I didn't have my stuff together and "everyone else did"-- it helped to show me that everyone was as clueless as I was. Not to mention... we had some awesome fellowship throughout the week. There were coffee dates, glow stick parties, reminiscing, sleepovers, and a great night of karaoke & dancing. Guess who got the MVP award for best dancing (or sweating? don't remember)? THIS GIRL! $5 starbucks gift card never felt so good.

All in all, my favorite week back in America so far! That's right folks, better than Christmas. 

oh, and my decision?


i'm gonna be a DOULA!!!!

my 3-day seminar starts tomorrow and I could not be more excited. Pray for me as I begin this journey!



some visuals:

See? Best sweat-er by far. I got #wrcouplewatch'ed

Just a bunch of Aggie World Racers! The best looking group in the room. And smartest.

King Cake for breakfast after our stop in New Orleans

Photo creds: Carrie & Phil's iPhones. they're too cool for school.



oh, and shout out to the Goodes for being the best host home EVER! 

fasting

A controversial subject in some circles. Here's a little of what I've been thinking...

Fasting has always been normal thing for me; growing up Catholic tends to include that. I'd pick something to fast from during Lent (like TV, chocolate, etc.), and would fast on Ash Wednesday & Good Friday to prepare for the Resurrection. Other than the Lenten season, I never usually considered fasting in my daily life. There were a few moments of desperation in college where that was all I could think to do...and there was some wonderful fruit that came from it.

While on the World Race, the topic of "fasting" was brought up often. There were all-day fasts for people at home to know the Lord or to receive healing, fasting to receive more clarity from the Lord, people doing the Daniel fast, fasting for support to come in, fasting from our hard-to-come-by Internet, and even fasts from talking. It was great to stretch ourselves in this way, and I learned a lot and had some great intimacy with the Lord whenever I stepped out and fasted.

But.
I hate that I'm such a girl.
Here's a look at what goes on in my head when I think about fasting:

"ooo maybe I'll lose some weight"
"oh. or maybe it will screw up my metabolism and make me fat"
"nope, no calories equals weight loss. do you think the Lord knows I have ulterior motives?"
"What if i have a social event to go to? You're not supposed to tell people you're fasting but people will bug me because I'm not eating."
"I did eat some brownies the other day. Maybe fasting would balance it out."

what?? seriously?

ridiculous.

Just thought I would put this out there. I love the discipline of fasting but am tired of combating these silly thoughts.

I'm thinking about fasting for a day this week, to pray and seek the Lord about my future and what He wants for me, as well as some issues with my family. Please pray with me to receive fruit from my obedience and not be so ridiculous!

So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer. - Ezra 8:23

So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. -Daniel 9:3

Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. -Joel 1:14

this last month....

has been a crazed time of traveling, spending time with family, and celebrating in general. Oh and applying for approximately 10 jobs every morning before starting my day. Guess how many responses I've gotten? 1. out of about 100. and it was for an occasional babysitting job. womp womp. Please pray for something to open up (I'm hoping for something at Central Market or Whole Foods, but I'll take whatever). I also:

*Started school again! My [online] classes started on the 17th and I'm loving them so far; Small Business Management & Life Span Growth and Development. One of our first assignments was to "introduce" ourselves on the message board, and there sure are some interesting people taking this class. I've already met a guy from Nepal and I'm so impressed by how many people that are married, have kids, etc. and are still interested in working on their degrees! Got my textbooks in the mail today & I'm ready to start using my brain again.

*Went to an allergist-- found out I am off the charts for cats, cedar & ragweed. For everyone who gets upset that I don't tell them about my cat allergy until a reaction starts flaring up, here's your heads-up! Tested out my asthma and learned a lot about how allergies work. If you're looking for an allergist in the DFW area, Dr. Mudita Shah is excellent. She spent about an hour with me, doing tests herself and talking me through the why, how, etc. Probably the best doctors appointment I've ever been to.

*Finally finished ridding my room of all the junk I've accumulated over the last 6 years of being transient. Found & read some interesting things.... was reminded of how glad I am that high school is over!

*Attended the Project: Searchlight conference @ the AIM headquarters in Gainesville, GA. The best way to describe it is a week of coaching, networking, and pushing newly-returned Racers into what their Kingdom Dream is...or at least seasonal dream. It helped me so much, I LOVED our mini-squad reunion, and made some decisions! I will share more details on my next blog.

Suzi, Robin and I at the conference [we missed you Mel,  John(s),  & Evan!]

*Visited friends in Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, Houston & College Station on the way to & from Georgia. I'm so blessed to know so many wonderful people and felt so encouraged by all our conversations. Shout out to the Springers, Kathryn, Amanda, the Smiths + baby Jackson, the Hokansons, the Womacks, all of ComChurch, and the Supercinskis, especially baby Micah. Hope we get to see one another again soon!

Jackson (less than 2 weeks old!) and I, looking cute & stuff

More to come on my next post, about where the Lord is leading me and everything that happened at PSL. Let me know if you have any comments/questions   

April