100 Blessings for 100 Days

It has been 100 days since I arrived at launch for the World Race. 100 days of different languages, weird foods and smells, adventure, growth, ministry, and living in constant community. 100 days of blessings and lessons.

After realizing I’ve been gone that long, I took a trip back through my photos from launch until now, and found so much joy in seeing where I’ve been and what God has done! Many of these things haven’t been written about in my blogs or posted on my social media, so I thought it would be fun to write them down here. (I take no credit for this idea because I stole it.)

100 Blessings – 100 Days

1. Being able to launch internationally during covid!

2. Using what I learned last year in quarantine to propel me into deeper intimacy with the Lord

3. Being on a team with Lindsey again!

   

4. Worship room every Thursday in Guatemala

5. Playing with the kids from The Blessing

6. The Buffalo sandwich. If you know, you know.

7. Praying for the sick and seeing God heal them

8. Eating dinner out and laughing until we cried with Rachel and Nolo

9. The artisan market with all its colors and souvenirs

10. Hosting three Beauty for Ashes events and watching God move in the hearts of the women who came

11. Flowers everywhere

12. Having a kitchen and cooking meals with the team. We ate good in Guatemala

13. Shopping at the local market for fresh produce every week

    

14. Accidental ATL (ask the Lord) on Valentine’s Day

15. Celebrating birthdays in Guatemala and watching the person’s face get shoved into a cake (tradition, apparently) 

16. Street food! So good, even if its sketchy

17. Learning how to make tortillas

18. Working on my Spanish. It’s a bit rusty after 10 years in the mental vaults

19. Technology, so I can keep up with people back home

20. Exploring Antigua and all its ruins

    

21. Our beach “vacation” with our hosts where we saw a black sand beach for the first time

    

22. Peanut butter

23. Fireworks on the roof, and almost hitting our hosts’ house

24. Team improv and speaking in accents for hours

25. Seeing volcanoes for the first time, and living near one that erupts daily

    

26. Experiencing my first earthquake. Don’t worry it was only a little one

27. Candle light dinners

28. Impromptu worship throughout our house

29. Tres leches cake for every birthday or occasion

30. All the dogs everywhere

31. Getting to hike Pacaya, an active volcano, with the squad 

    

32. The other 2/3 of my logistics brain. I mean team

33. Our first debrief as a squad, and the amazing hostel God brought us to

34. Hot showers for a few days

35. Shaving Scottie’s head!

    

36. Learning more about Holy Spirit

37. Walking in more authority in the Lord

38. Everyone making it to Costa Rica on the same flight. It was a close one…

39. The best squad leaders in the entire world (sorry if you had different ones. They aren’t as amazing as mine)

40. Seeing scarlet macaws, a toucan, iguanas, monkeys, and crocodiles

41. ICE CREAM

42. Watching God provide financially for me, and for my squad

43. Being fully funded! Again!

44. Gorgeous sunsets at Jacó beach

45. Finding Papa John’s pizza in Costa Rica

46. A weekly mentor group with a lady from the local church

47. Ghostbusting the Big Yellow House in San José

48. Visiting the Starbucks coffee plantation and talking for hours with Micah and Melissa from The Hope Project

    

49. Visiting a family who has adopted over 140 kids in the last 40 years, and playing with the kids there now

50. Seeing church done in a different way than I’m used to

51. Adventure day with the team. The highlights were definitely the hummingbirds and the hot springs 

    

52. Night ministry during Holy Week

53. Sharing the gospel everywhere we go

54. A new perspective on Easter

55. My amazing team! 

    

56. Meeting believers all over the world and starting to see just how big the Kingdom of God is

57. Coffee dates

58. Chocolate croissants to enjoy along with the coffee

59. Going thrift shopping

60. My amazing support system back home!

61. Nutella

62. Random, sweet interactions with people on my squad who aren’t on my team. Yet.

63. Learning things I never knew while reading through the New Testament

64. Making friends with the baristas at a local coffee shop because I was in there so often

65. Slumber parties when one room has AC for the night

66. Thunder storms and torrential downpours

67. Annoying, yet adorable, puppies 

68. An Indian restaurant that makes all others outside of India pale in comparison

69. Having the same Uber driver more than once in the same day

70. Getting to use a washing machine so clothes are actually clean!

71. Finding other book worms and geeking out together over books and TV adaptations

    

72. People living to serve one another

73. Growing in my prayer life

74. Trying Coca Cola in every country I go to

75. Making bracelets for a women’s retreat at church 

    

76. The amazing guys on my team who have saved me from cockroaches/palmetto bugs more than once. I am forever in your debt, gentlemen

77. Living in a house with the whole squad

78. Having actual beds with sheets and pillows so we don’t have to use our sleeping pads or tents.

79. Coffee shops with AC and wifi. I might just pitch my tent and live there.

80. God hunts- sharing what God has been doing 

81. Helping kids learn to surf at Surf Club

82. Practicing hearing from the Lord while we pray for each other

83. Celebrating with each other as we grow in our faith

84. Helping and encouraging people as they continue to fundraise

85. Scenic hikes

86. Waterfalls

    

87. Our squad leader, Brandon, being Jesus in a skit and getting hit in the throat with a ball of sand by a kid

88. Sunset swims

89. Cold showers after a long, sweaty day

90. Buying AC for Sabbath so we can sleep in a nice cool room and relax

91. Lots of painting and being creative

92. Being one of the lead people on a project and learning how to delegate better

93. Squad church Sunday nights

94. NEGATIVE COVID TESTS

    

95. Being invited to swim and have dinner at the home of a couple from church

96. Fresh avocados

97. Library apps so I can keep reading while I’m traveling the world

98. Watching people do what they love, or step into what God has gifted them in

99. Pizza dates

100. Finding out we are finally heading to the 10/40 window after the Dominican Republic! Turkey is next, Lord willing.

 I am not the same person I was when I left in January. God is refining me, molding and shaping me into an instrument for His Kingdom. What a process, and what an adventure! I look forward to what God has planned for the next 100 days and beyond.