8 months and one week ago, on September 4th, 2021, I was a week out from leaving for the World Race. Today, May 15th, 2022 I am one week out from being home. I can look back and remember how anxious and scared I was the week before I left for the Race. I can remember how apprehensive I was to have my family drop me off at the AIM campus and drive away. I dreaded feeling homesick, I was very fearful of not being liked, and I really didn’t love the thought of being gone 9 months straight. I knew the Lord was calling me to this trip so I was confident in my “yes” but I was not too excited to start this journey. As much as I answered the question “Are you excited?” with the words “Yes! I am so excited for this journey!”, the fear overcame the excitement. Now, being here, in this place, looking back on these many months, I can very clearly see how evidently the Lord showed up.
Yes, the homesickness hit. Sometimes, it hit hard. However, the Lord absolutely provided the strength for me to be able to hold on. It is truly very evident that I was not at all relying on my own but the Father’s strength every single minute, every single month. I can tell you that if I ran this Race solely with my own strength, I would have been on a plane home the second month.
The fear of not being liked became quickly clear to me that it was just a lie from the enemy. One day, sitting on a laundry bucket at the GA campus, I sat on the phone to my mom crying about how I didn’t think I was liked by my squad. It was then that the Lord used my mother to call out this lie I had been believing for so many years of my life. If that lie was not called into truth so early on, I would have been coming out of this Race with a very different, not nearly as sweet of an experience. Instead, because of the Lord’s faithfulness, I am walking off this Race with some friendships that I can confidently say will last a lifetime. I made friends as close as family. These humans saw me at my best and my worst. They comforted me, encouraged me, wiped my tears, and shedded them with me. They pointed me back to the Father, even when it was hard, they laughed with me and sometimes at me, they loved me and they were there for me. My life would not be as goodness-filled without these people the Lord brought me through the Race. If I had backed out of the Race because of the lie I believed, I would have missed out on some life-changing friendships.
Honestly, the 9 months straight thing, never really became my favorite thing. Something I learned and continued to learn for 9 months, was I had to take it day by day. I learned to rejoice in the day before me and not dwell on the days following. And you know what, here I am 9 months later with a 9-month experience I would never trade for the whole world.
I sit here grateful. Grateful for the Instagram-worthy moments that the whole world saw and the not-so-much Instagram-worthy moments the whole world didn’t see. I am grateful the Lord showed me just how much I need Him and I praise Him for how much closer I am to him now, after the Race. I am grateful for the sweet children of God I met and one day will dance with in Heaven. I am grateful for each sunrise and sunset that reminded me of the glory and goodness of God. I am grateful for the slow and sweet moments and the hectic and chaotic ones. I am grateful for the sweet hours and the really tough ones. I am grateful for the moments where the laughs turned into belly aches. I am thankful for every single experience, good and bad, scary and chill, hard and easy, funny and sad because in every situation I learned the Father uses everything for His glory. Not one moment, not a one, in the whole race, went to waste, even if I can see right now the fruit it brought or not. And for that, I praise my good Father.
I come home from this Race with many memories, enough stories for me to talk off everyone’s ear, oodles of pictures and videos, lots of sweet friends, and loads of thankfulness and joy. I walk off this Race a different human than I was when I pulled up to that AIM campus 8 months and 1 week ago. And for that change, I thank the Lord. I feel very thankful to be loved by a Father who will never let me simply remain the way that I am. I am so grateful for every moment I endured because it brought growth in my life. I had opportunities to serve and to share the love of Jesus. This Race was a gift. I come home sad to be saying such hard goodbyes, thankful for the past year of my life, and full of excitement to continue the mission of sharing the love and light of Jesus.
Friends, this was just a glimpse into the life-changing year I have walked through. I want to be sure to send the biggest thank you to each and every soul that supported me in any way. You played a part in changing lives and growing the Father’s kingdom. I am forever grateful to you.
Thank you, World Race. It has been a joy.
XOXO
Olivia <3
Forever proud of you friend. It’s an honor and a joy to know you. Thankful for movies & m&ms bringing this friendship together !!! Your a world changer, and I am so so dang excited to see all the places you walk with the Lord ! Love you, love you, love you!
Sweet Olivia, you are such a joy! It was a complete honor to walk most of the race with you and I couldn’t be more proud of the incredible woman of the Lord you are choosing to be. You are such a light and exude joy like no one I’ve met before. I love you so dearly friend!