Gearing up for adventure!

Happy summer, everybody! The sun is out, we have frequent heat advisories in PA, and (best of all) there’s no school! It’s crazy to think that in just a few weeks (42 days to be exact), I’m heading to Georgia for about 6 weeks of training. We’ll learn how to engage with the different cultures, effectively build God’s Kingdom overseas, and how to survive Georgia heat.

Fundraising Update

Thanks to your support and God’s faithfulness, I have 96% of the money I need in order to be able to go on the World Race. That’s a lot, but that’s not all. I have also received sufficient cash and check donations to cover the majority of my medical expenses. And, in addition to all of those blessings, I also now have ALL of the gear I need, and I didn’t need to pay for much of that out of pocket either. If I received zero more donations, this trip would cost me a grand total of $750. I’m also anticipating a couple more possible donations, so there’s a good chance this trip won’t cost me a penny, which is absolutely wild. God is so good to me! It’s a tremendous weight off my back to not have to worry about this trip putting a dent in my bank account, especially with college coming up when I get back.

So about that college decision…

Some of you who know me a little better are probably a little bit curious about how I landed on Cedarville. The answer to that is that I have absolutely no idea. A couple of years ago I would have told you that I would never go to a Christian college, and definitely not Cedarville. I had decided that Christian schools have too many rules, and I wasn’t interested. I visited Cedarville again this year on my way to a biblical counseling conference, primarily with the intent of getting another excused absence for my travel day. However, I knew that my previous judgements of Cedarville weren’t exactly the most godly, so I made an effort to go into my tour and meetings with an open mindset, open to what God might have for me to learn. I wasn’t going to write it off out of stubbornness anymore.

It turns out that a little open-mindedness goes a long way. I had a great conversation with a music prof, who asked some questions and suggested the idea that music therapy (my previous choice of major) wasn’t the only way that I could use my gifts to help others and glorify God. The next thing I knew, I was in the admissions center filling out all my name, academic information, church name, and whatever else they ask you on those college applications. Exactly two months later, I submitted my deposit to Cedarville University. Do I have any idea whatsoever what my major will be? Nope. Not a clue. I still don’t even know why I chose Cedarville. But I do know that God has already been faithful to work in me through my decision to participate in this gap year, and He will also be faithful to work through my decision to attend Cedarville. It’s just another step in learning to hold my future with a loose hand and hold onto Christ instead.

Valedictorian who?

Well, despite my best efforts, I landed top of my class. Apparently working really hard for three years of high school is enough as long as you try at least a little in senior year? But seriously, it was a huge gift from God to be able to represent my class as valedictorian. It was so encouraging to have some sort of validation that I didn’t put all that work into high school for nothing. Of course, walking out of that stadium with a diploma would have been enough, but I think it’s a testament of who God is and how generous He is that I walked out of that stadium with a diploma and some significant scholarships that will help me to pay for the next season of my life.

God also gifted me with an opportunity to take the glory that comes with being valedictorian and give it back to Him. After writing several drafts of a speech, I landed on telling my story how it actually was. Instead of polishing it, I shared that high school was incredibly challenging, and I highlighted several times that God was the reason that I made it through, particularly as the top of my class. I hope that my ability to share my own weakness and God’s strength will be a seed planted in the several hundred people who were there, and I hope that one day maybe one of those seeds will be watered and take root in a faithful heart. Some say it was a brave speech. To me it was just honest. Maybe that’s the same thing.

Summer adventures

1. Shenandoah National Park

In June, Abby and Joanna (my two wonderful sisters) took me to Shenandoah National Park as a graduation/birthday gift. We managed to start fires to cook our food without assistance from Dad or my brother Ethan (our neighbors were very impressed), and we successfully hiked not only down to the waterfall, but also all the way back up! Tip: the trails in Shenandoah go straight down, but then you have to go straight back up. Not ideal, but we did it! All in all, it was a successful trip. We finished our time in Virginia kayaking with our uncle from D.C. It was a lovely time.

2. Adirondack Backpacking

I would like to say that I use the term “backpacking” rather loosely. You may be picturing hiking 10-15 miles a day with a 50 lb pack in the middle of nowhere. What we did is we hiked two miles in from the campground, set up camp for three days, and hiked right back out. It was not particularly strenuous, but that wasn’t exactly the goal. The goal was to practice using my gear so I wouldn’t show up in Georgia next month and be like, “Hmmm… I wonder how you’re supposed to put up this tent.” The trip served that purpose fantastically! I effectively set up my tent, sleeping pad, and hammock and now consider myself fully prepared! Maybe. Prepared enough, at least. 🙃

We stayed at Rock Pond in the Pharaoh Lake wilderness area, and it was beautiful! Ethan and Dad regretted not bringing their fishing poles, but they made up for it cliff jumping. I’m not much of a cliff jumper, but I swam a bit and boated around in the canoe Dad brought. It was a lovely time to disconnect from cell service and the rest of the world for a bit and listen to the sounds of the loons and the frogs and all the other sounds the forest has to offer.

3. Fourth of July in Argyle

Before heading home, we stopped for a couple more days. Argyle is this tiny little town in New York where my great aunt and uncle live. They have a beautiful property with a small waterfall and some trails leading to the ruins of mills that used to run off of the creek. I think Ethan also appreciated the candy from the parade. Fortunately he let the other kids have some, too. 😂We used to go to Argyle every year for Fourth of July, but this was the first year we were able to go in several years, so it was lovely to see everyone and reconnect, especially to celebrate Uncle Wes and Aunt Linda’s 50th anniversary. We spent some time boating, went to their party (which had great food, by the way) and then headed home, where I had a whole week before my next trip!

4. Maine

I’m writing this during the spare time I have on our family vacation to Maine. We’re staying in an Airbnb in the middle of nowhere and spending our time playing cards, going on short hikes, and eating ice cream.

Preparing for launch

We have officially started training for the gap year! That pretty much just means we got summer homework, but it’s not for school, so I guess it’s okay. The training platform they use is pretty interactive, so we’re getting to know our squad-mates already, which is nice. The group chat has also gotten significantly more active as people have started asking more questions about gear and working on getting matching T-shirts for our M Squad photo on the first day of training camp.

Although it’s not technically training, my church is also doing some teaching that will help me on my trip. A couple weeks ago my pastor started teaching a Sunday school class on evangelism. The class is altogether with the whole church, whereas usually the church is split into a number of classes, with the youth having their own separate class. It’s amazing how God works to put the topic of evangelism on the agenda so soon before I leave for a missions trip, and also to provide that I could go to it as a youth. He’s very detail oriented, and that’s comforting to me. He is preparing me for this trip, and He will continue to prepare me and give me instruction and strength whenever I need it over the course of this journey. He is worthy to be trusted.

What can you do?

1. Follow my blog for updates and share this blog with anyone you think may be interested
2. Pray for me. I’m not really anticipating the transition to training camp being particularly smooth for me, largely because I am an introvert and will likely struggle to be around 36 strangers nonstop plus leaders and a bunch of other squads that will all be at training camp. I am in need of grace for that. I imagine some other racers will be in the same boat, so pray for harmony and just a good transition for the M squad as a whole.
3. I suppose if you really want to you can support my trip with the support link at the bottom of this page. However, I might be getting more support from my church plus another donation, and that’s likely to take me to 100%, so feel free to pour those resources into my squad-mates (the related racers in the sidebar are probably in my squad, so check out their blogs, too!) or support the Great Commission elsewhere.