Hello everyone! Long time no blog!

I thought I would take the time to fill you all in on what the Lord has for me in the next season post-race. As some of you know, there have been many different ideas that have been floating in my head, really starting at the begging of the race, but that had more developed in the final months of being abroad. But before I dive into some pretty big news and life changes, there are a few more World Race things to write about!

Back in the middle of May, my squad and I all said our goodbyes and boarded different planes rather than the same one- that day, as I expressed in my last blog, was really difficult. Saying goodbye felt unreal, as these people were my family for the past 9 months. But, we all knew that this goodbye, for most of us, was only temporary, as we had our reunion to look forward to!

That being said, it happened already, which is wild. The race calls it “Revival & Reunion”, or R&R for short. The week was filled with sweet reunions of course, worship sessions, along with lots of free time to catch up and go off base. I extended my reunion with a short trip at the begging to visit a race friend, Addison in Alabama. It was so fun to meet her friends, siblings, and see what her life is like outside of the World Race. I also got to see my home church’s past worship leader and his wife down there as well which was really sweet. Addison and I then drove to Gainesville (Adventures and Missions base) where the reunion took place. It truly was so special seeing everyone and sleeping on the ground together again. Some fun things that we did together include Top Golf, river tube floating, seeing the Odyssey in theaters, multiple visits to the lake, coffee runs, and more. Since the race is over, we also got to drive our own cars, have no curfew, and no dress code! It was so strange being with these people at this place and not have a lot of structure, except that we were not allowed to use the indoor bathrooms, but still always use the porta potty… anyways, it was such a special time to catch up and hear about everyones plans for the fall, what they have been up to this summer, and more. I also extended my trip even more and flew to Arizona with Emma and Maddie (Emma lives there) and we did some adventuring around the Grand Canyon and saw some pretty big cacti!

Besides the fun, R&R was a little more challenging than I had expected. Not that I was back sleeping on the floor, I’m plenty used to that, but that week the Lord was asking me to have closure with this season of my life- but to explain this fully, you’ll need some context.

Going way back to March and April, the first week of South Africa I was in a little bit of a panic. It finally hit my teammates and I that this was the last country on the race, and in no time at all we would be at home. Immediately, questions starting filling my mind, such as “I need to get a job”, “should I apply to college?”, & “what in the world am I going to do when I get home”. So naturally, I started applying for multiple schools, a variety of jobs, and even applied to go on another World Race trips. My free time was spent on phone calls, sending emails, and realizing that I really needed to spend some intentional time with the Lord because of how stressed I was. Sidebar- I was on a phone call with an admissions counselor for a college while sitting in our lawn in South Africa, and she asks “So, where exactly are you right now?” At that exact moment, a family of monkeys ran across the yard about 10 feet in front of me. I stared, wide-eyed at the monkeys, tracking them as they pranced along and replied “yeah, I — I’m in South Africa”. I did not mention the monkeys to her, but laughed in my head, it felt like impeccable timing.

Fast forwarding to being home,  I had a few things lined up for the summer which made it easy to get back into the rhythm of things at home. I worked 3 jobs- I was a nanny, a barista, and worked as a summer worship intern at my church. I had many reunions with friends, church members, family. My time was packed, and even though I was getting back involved, transitioning home still did come with some challenges. It felt like my whole world had just turned upside down (which it kind of did) and that Ankeny was not my home anymore. I was already thinking about my next departure, solidifying my desire to do another world race trip.

^here's some of the latte art I've done

2 weeks into being home, I had a phone call on a Wednesday morning for a final interview and commitment call for the trip, however, on that Tuesday I was pulled into an extra meeting for my internship, that I thought was just a random meeting, but to my surprise, I was actually offered the position at my church as worship leader. This shook my world, all the plans I thought I was satisfied with, and made the month of June a little more packed with decisions. Before this meeting, I was really struggling with the lie that there was nothing for me in Ankeny anymore, feeling like this wasn’t my home, I didn’t have a community, and I would waste my time here. That honestly was really sad for me to even think about. So, I had been asking God to give me a sign if I was supposed to stay or not. So when they popped the question, in my head I immediately wanted to say yes, and totally knew it was from the Lord. But, coming home, I told my parents, and basically said “yeah, I’m not doing that.” How strange!

It took many weeks to come to a decision, even though looking back, it was clearly from the Lord. But, I still was holding onto every ounce of the World Race as I could get, so it made the decision a lot harder. But, I am so happy to announce that I accepted the position! I started the job as Worship Leader on August 10th and kept it a secret for a while, but now it’s public knowledge! It’s been an exciting week getting started, and I feel like such an adult! Working full time, I have a desk, and a key fob!

^sweet first day gift from my boss!

Back to what I said earlier about R&R and closure, this is why it was a little harder than I expected. I thought I would be doing the race for a few more years, and with that not happening, I had to come to terms with not being at the AIM base, in this kind of community for a while, if not never again. But I do feel good about leaving that life behind me and starting this new chapter, I know the Lord used my time at R&R as a springboard for this new chapter.

I often think of how stressed I was for the future at the end of the race, all of the plans I made, how many ideas that I had for this next year, and absolutely none of them are actually happening which is actually so funny, a huge relief, and such a testament to God’s plan for my life- His plan is way better than I could ever imagine! I was trying so hard to map everything out myself under the mindset that “If I don’t do anything, nothing will happen.” But that’s not true, and God had it under control the entire time.

The lie that there is nothing for me in Ankeny anymore has been shattered, and the Lord has been so faithful in this season. I have gotten plugged into Young Adults at my church which has been really helpful in finding people who will be here over there school year since most of my friends are going out of town for college. I have hope that I will make some strong connections through that group and through my fellow staff members.

If you aren’t familiar with my church, here is the website: https://ridgelife.org/staff

Thank you all for your continued support and prayer and taking the time to read about my next steps. It means the world to me and I couldn't be more grateful for the love.

Ellie

PS My friend got married!