Reflections In The Mirror: Young and Old Generations Alike

Many people over the last year have asked me, how did you know The World Race was it?

When I heard about The World Race from my friend Nicole, it sounded like something I might be interested in. I did my research, I prayed about it and I started the application process. However, even after I applied, interviewed and eventually, got accepted, I had my doubts if this is something I really wanted to commit to. I mean, it would be a HUGE sacrifice! A year away from my family and friends, a year just dedicating my life to the Lord, and the two hardest sacrifices, a year not focusing on dating and a year away from my career without working or getting paid. YIKES!  Let’s be honest, I am not a spring chicken and I do want to get married and have kids soon and at 34 years old, our society and science tell us that “time is ticking”. But aside all of these fears and doubts, my heart was still set on going. I have a passion to continue to develop my relationship with God and serve others all around the world. Shortly after, I paid my deposit and started fundraising!

In August, we were asked to come to Gainesville, GA for Training Camp for 10 days. When I heard about this, I was thinking, what kind of training could we possibly get?!?!? I know we were going to meet our team during this time, which I was excited about, but how much “team building activities” can we possibly do in 10 days? 

I arrived in Atlanta on August 7^th and from day one, I was blown away with Adventures in Missions (the organization that leads The World Race), I was blown away with the guest speakers, with the logistics, EVERYTHING! Training was so intentional, each session, each speaker, each activity, each meal was preparing us for the race. God met us in each session and revealed things within our hearts that he was able to free us from. One of the things that God revealed to me during one of the sessions was that I was STILL dealing with doubt. He revealed that my doubt was leading to comparison to some of my teammates on my squad. I would consider my relationship with God to be at its infancy stage; I have to admit I have not read the entire bible cover to cover. Naturally, it was very intimidating for me to meet so many teammates at training camp that were further in their walk/relationship with the Lord, where they knew the bible in and out.  I started comparing myself to them and it made me doubt that maybe I am not ready for this mission trip.  After sharing that struggle with my team, some of them also felt the same way, and we all found some type of relief that it was ok. That we were called to do this, no matter how much of the bible we knew, God was going to use our story to help others.

Fast forward to the 8^th day of training. We were told in the morning that we were going to have 5-6 hours that afternoon to go to town and put into practice what they have taught us. (YIKES!!!! My stomach turned!!! I was not ready!!!) That afternoon, my team and another team met at the parking lot to discuss where we were going to go. After praying and asking the Lord where to go, we all decided we should go spend our time with residents at an assisted living place/nursing home. We called a few places and one of the places said we can come play BINGO with the residents! Woohoo! Off we go to this nursing home in two cars. The first car that arrived was taken to the Bingo room, but when we arrived (I was in the 2^nd car), they had asked us if we can go to the memory care area. We, of course, said YES!

The residents in the memory care area were just wrapping up their arts & craft activity when we arrived, so we helped them transition to the living room for some music time. Luckily, one of my teammates, Ethan, who happens to be an awesome musician, had brought his guitar with him! We were told that the residents really enjoy music because although they may not remember their own name, they will always remember old hymns. We sang songs such as Amazing Grace, You Are My Sunshine, How Great Thou Art and so much more! It was so special watching all of the residents singing along, even those residents that were on oxygen tanks and barely having the energy to sit up in their wheelchair.

While we were all singing along in a circle, I noticed one resident all alone by the window. My initial thoughts were, how did we miss her and not get her a chair in the circle? I quickly run over to her to ask her what her name was, and her response was just a smile. I then asked if she wanted to join us in the circle to sing, and her response was another smile. She then proceeds to grab my hand and we started walking. After grabbing her a chair and putting it in a circle I asked her multiple times if she wanted to sit, but she just held onto my hand and continued walking.  One of the staff members told me that she, Mrs. Sally (this was not her real name, but in order to protect the identity of the patient I will call her that in this blog), loves to wander around.

We proceeded to walk around the living room, later deviating towards a hallway that led to the resident rooms. My initial thoughts were we probably shouldn’t be back here, but I guess we can go for a quick walk down this hallway and turn around quickly. We get to the end of the hallway and I am trying to lead Mrs. Sally back to the living room. She immediately refused, grabbed my hand harder and was pulling me in the opposite direction. I asked her, “Where do you want to go?”, she pointed at the resident’s room with the name of Mrs. Patty (this was not her real name, but in order to protect the identity of the patient I will call her that in this blog). I kept telling Mrs. Sally that we should head back to the living room, but she was so persistent and was literally dragging me into Mrs. Patty’s room. By this time, I really knew I should not be in someone’s room, but one thing lead to the other and Mrs. Sally opened the room door, dragged me in and there I was standing in someone’s room while they laid on the bed and Mrs. Sally now sitting on the red couch.

Ok so now I am in the room! My initial thoughts were…I need an exit strategy, ASAP! I did not want to be rude, so I introduced myself and asked the person on the bed their name, she responded Patty.  I asked her how she is doing, how her day was and invited her to come join the rest of the group for music. Each time I asked her, she seemed interested and would get excited and literally get up from her bed, but each time she would come up with an excuse and get back into bed.

Her first excuse was that she did not like to be outside of her room because people die and she gets sad. It seemed like she did not like to get close to any of the other residents because eventually, they would pass away. I empathized with her and told her I understood where she was coming from. I was able to comfort her and told her that the music we were singing is so much fun and promised her a good time.

Her second excuse was that she did not feel well. I asked her where she was hurting? She proceeded to point to her mid-chest (picture below).  I asked if I could pray for her and she was happy about that idea. I remember praying for God to take away all ailments/pain that she may be experiencing, I asked God to bring healing and peace within her heart. I also prayed for His Love to be present in her life. I reminded Mrs. Patty that we are daughters of God and he LOVES US SO MUCH! She was so appreciative that I took the time to pray for her.

Her last excuse was that she was busy and went back to bed. Really? So, I asked her if she can just come for ONE song and then I’d bring her back to her room. Finally, she agreed!  By this time, it was only Patty and I in the room, because somehow Sally had left the room earlier and we did not even notice. We walked back to the living room, but by the time we got there, the music had wrapped up because the residents were getting ready for dinner. I was a little petrified that I promised Mrs. Patty music and we get there and the music had ended. While I was figuring out why we ended the music, Mrs. Patty forgot about the music and started talking to my teammates. She wanted to sit with us for dinner, but we were not staying for dinner. She wanted us to come back, but we, unfortunately, were not able to come back the following day, which broke my heart. Despite all this bad news for Mrs. Patty, I left knowing that she felt the Love of God because she had the biggest smile on her face. It was as if she was a different person from the person I met in that room, a different person from the one laying in that bed just a few minutes ago.

This encounter with Mrs. Patty was so special for me and has impacted my life so much! After leaving this place, my team and I reflected on our experience and how God revealed the following. To start off, Mrs. Sally was an angel of God that literally guided me to Mrs. Patty’s room. I strongly believe that Mrs. Patty was struggling with depression. Her battle with wanting to come to the living room for music and her excuses with feeling sick, being busy, feeling sad and just wanting to go back to bed reminded me of myself. It reminded me of the time when I battled with depression and I wanted to go to church, but every Sunday morning I had an excuse just like Mrs. Patty on how I could not go. I was able to identify this struggle that day in Mrs. Patty’s room and I was able to relate to her. In addition, when Mrs. Patty mentioned she was not feeling well and showed me where it hurt, she pointed to her chest (see picture above). This also confirmed, my speculation of her battle with depression. Our heart and soul are in our chest! This was not a coincidence that she was feeling sick in that area of her body. Praying for her was a privilege, sharing God’s love was a privilege, and giving her hope which left her smiling at the end was priceless. Essentially, God showed me that I should not doubt myself, because I could use my story / my testimony to help others. Yes, it is important to know the bible, but God can use your story, because YOUR STORY MATTERS! Everyone has a story no matter how big or small they may feel it is and it has the potential to impact people you wouldn’t realize it would.

So how did I know I was ready for The World Race? Because MY STORY MATTERS!