{p h o n e y | b a l o n e y}

Many people have been asking me why I have chosen to delete social media for the rest of the race and I should probably share my response here as well. It all started back in month 2 in Costa Rica. I felt as though the Lord was asking me to give up my phone in Panama for our third month on the race. I didn’t want to do it because I wanted to stay in contact with home. I wanted my phone because it was my source of comfort on the race. So, naturally as the human that I am I put the stipulation on God. If He prompted someone to give me a free flower I would put my phone away for the month, but as we left Costa no one had given me a flower. So, I took it as I was in the clear and I wasn’t supposed to give up my phone, I must have just heard Him wrong. . . 

As we began doing life in Panama, my team felt as though God was telling us to live a life of surrender and live only out of our day packs (which is just like a school backpack). This was funny because God had been prompting me earlier that this would be a month of surrender. Then one day we were driving through the mountains with our SQL Justin doing an ATL adventure day (which is another blog in itself) and my teammate Tess told him to pull over. She got out to pluck the most beautiful flower off of the tree and handed it to me. She didn’t know I had asked God for a flower. She didn’t know that I had just made the decision to keep my phone in my day pack and yet she gave me the flower. So, I gave my phone up. It went 30 miles away with my big pack and it was a growing experience for sure.

Fast forward another 9 weeks in Morocco to the worst trip back from the best experience ever of riding camels in the Sahara (another blog for another day). My health had been crapping out on me and it eventually led to having surgery in Morocco (another blog for another day, so many stories guys of what God has been doing through hard circumstances!) and out of nowhere my phone decided to just turn off. For 2 weeks we called Apple and Verizon trying to get to the bottom of why it wouldn’t turn on. We were about to head to a rural village in Ethiopia and I knew if I didn’t get my phone figured out in Morocco right before Halloween it probably wouldn’t get fixed until Christmas-time in India. This was a huge source of anxiety for me in our last week in Morocco. I worried about my phone all the time, it consumed my every thought and that is not healthy for me. 

I wish I could go back and know that God had it figured out. If so, I could have stayed present in my favorite community, enjoyed our last moments before team changes, and simply knew that it was just a phone and it would be alright. God showed me a lot about my sweet Deep Waters teammate’s in that time that forever changed how I viewed my sweet sisters that I’m forever grateful for. 

My phone did not get fixed and we headed across the continent of Africa to Ethiopia where we were serving with HOPEthiopia! To not have a phone was such a blessing for me in this month. I was able to do many other activities that I enjoy! I read 5 Harry Potter books in my off time, I colored almost every day with my fave kiddos, I actually talked to squadmates that I haven’t spent much time with before, I took mental pictures that I pray are forever engrained in me, and I listened to music that other people enjoyed. That was a month where I learned that it really wasn’t about me. We lived with about 30 kids that month and it was so joyful for me! I LOVED my time in Ethiopia and I thank God (now) that I was able to be present in a new way that month. 

My new team and I were asked to create a prayer list for India in how we wanted to see God work while we were there and selfishly I put down that my phone would be fixed. That week in Ethiopia one of my teammates had to go to the capital to go to the hospital and my friend Nicole offered to take my phone to see if anyone could fix it there. I gave it to her, but had no expectation that Ethiopia could fix my phone and it would have to wait until cyber tech India. And surprise! It was fixed! My little prayer was answered by a BIG God! This allowed me to take photos and capture the faces and landscape that beautifully surrounded me every day, which I still look at basically every day! Ethiopia changed my heart and I thank God that I was able to be present and open to the work being done there and not distracted on my phone. 

Now here we are in month 8 in Nepal surrounded by breath taking mountains and beautiful people, entering the home stretch of the race, almost to double digits until we’re back in the states. It’s caused me to think about home a lot. Whether it’s the cold air and warm clothes or the fact that I have to start considering planning for life post race, home has become a theme. Even more though who I want to be when I get back to the states has been on my mind. Not that I’m going to be insanely different than who I was when I left, or that who I am today in Nepal isn’t going to be who I am forever because you know we change, but I don’t want to be content with staying who I am today. I want to keep growing. I want to keep experiencing life. And if I’m honest with myself and you all, scrolling on social media for sometimes hours of a day is not bringing me life. It may bring you life and that’s amazing, but what brings me life is seeing people for who they are at their core (a child of God), hearing stories of those people, doing things with said people, and in turn having stories myself. 

In India we received our letters to our six month self and in my 4 goals that I had was to have stories like my grandpa Howard had. I want to share with my grandkids (and all of you) how I saw God work in my life. I want to share with them how I saw God work in the world and in order to share those stories I have to be available for those stories. I can’t be holed up in a corner of my fave coffee shop forever just scrolling and seeing other people’s lives. I want to live my own life. I want to live the life that God planned for Kristin June. I want to partner with Him for the rest of my days seeing what it looks like to find kingdom where my feet are that day. So wherever I am, whether it’s Maine, Michigan, Myanmar, or Malaysia (or ya know wherever) I want to be there fully and that requires me sacrificing my comforts. I have learned this through God asking me to give up my phone willingly and unwillingly throughout this journey. And now I’m choosing it for myself because I’ve seen life from the other side of the screen. I’m not saying social media is bad, it definitely can be used for good, I’m just choosing in these last 4 months of this crazy journey called the World Race to look up at the mountains in front of me or look into the eyes of the person across from me in a coffee shop and see the wonder that this life has to offer. As my friend Katy just said, I can still exist without social media. Woah that’s a good word. If you want to hear more of her good words, this month we are accountability partners to share our stories and go on runs. Each week in Nepal we will be blogging, go subscribe to hers here – www.katylawson.theworldrace.org!! 

But that’s all friends! I can’t wait to hear all your stories when I’m home in 113 days. I’m still on fb messenger and Marco Polo, feel free to reach out!

Oh and if you’re looking for something to read today, Something Needs to Change by David Platt is pretty rad! 

If you want to keep my squad and team in your prayers: 

Some of us are not adjusting as well to the cold mountain air as we would have liked and are getting colds and strep. 

Some of my squad mates were very sick in India and have not gotten better yet which is causing their spirits to feel down too. 

We have some pretty amazing ministries going on in Nepal and to have each of those covered in prayer would be amazing, send me a message if you would like those. 

For the country of India- its revival is coming and so many of the Christians there are working towards that, pray that they can maintain their joy, trust, and passion. 

xoxo KJ