Since the race is rapidly coming to a close, I want to share a fun blog with some pictures from each month!
There’s literally no way I can sum up each month in only three photos and a few sentences, but I hope you enjoy looking at these quick snapshots, regardless!September: the first month away from home, spent tent camping in Gainesville, Georgia, and learning so many new things through different teachings. A time spent learning how to be content no matter my circumstances.
October: volunteering at Samaritan’s Purse in Louisiana, experiencing the Lord’s abundance, learning to appreciate my time left in Georgia.
November: the last bit of the beautiful fall months in Georgia, saying goodbye to the squad for Thanksgiving break, and getting to say hello to my family again.
December: a whole month spent with my family at home. A sweet yet difficult in-between time.
January: saying a hard goodbye to my family for the second time, quarantining in Georgia for a week, and finally flying out to Guatemala! An introduction to the sweet abundance of Guatemala, while resting in the tension of waiting for the Lord’s provision for fundraising! Hard yet beautiful.
February: getting fully-funded (wooh!!), exploring Antigua and Parramos, starting ministry with One Way Community, my birthday, hiking Volcano Acatenango, and sweet growth with the Lord! Probably my favorite month on the race.
March: finishing out our last month in Guatemala, appreciating every moment of my time with One Way Community, saying goodbye to this beautiful country and the Adventures in Guatemala base (and our lovely ministry hosts).
April: traveling to Costa Rica, entering a hard season of spiritual challenge, lots of manual labor, rain, sweet beach days, seeing new animals every day, lots of sweat!
May: I’m still in the midst of this month, but so far it’s been another hard one (I would describe my time in Costa Rica as swimming upstream). However, I am experiencing greater spiritual breakthrough as of this week, and I’m learning to have a sweet perspective as we wrap up this last week in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica! Lots of excitement for final debrief with the squad, and lots of bittersweet time ahead, as we begin to say farewell to places and people as we enter a new season!
I can hardly believe there’s been 9 months of this journey! I can’t wait to see how everything comes together in the end. I’m so so grateful for this opportunity – thanks God!
You can be praying against a spirit of apathy in me, and that I would continue to press into everything else there is to experience in these last few weeks. Love you all!
so sweet to look back on the year like this! makes 9 months seem like a blink.
Beautiful recap. Praying that the rest of the year goes well and that you continue to grow from the experiences. Lots of Love.
Beautiful pictures Shanan! So cool to see what your time summarized with pictures. Love you so much!
– Genna
Loved this – your pictures and highlights. It does indeed make it seem like it was ever so short, but I know so much happened – tons of memories and growth! Love you big!