100 Days, 100 Blessings

Today marks 100 days since I left home to launch on the World Race!!! I’m constantly amazed at how much has happened and the ways that God has moved. To celebrate, I’ve created a list of 100 blessings that have happened in our 100 days (in no particular order).

1. Sweet Maria. Our favorite Guatemalan abuelita.
2. Pillow talk with Jenna Watry
3. Quotes of the day
4. Chocolate rice (especially late at night)
5. The gift of tongues, aka remembering more Spanish than you actually learned in high school
6. But actually, the gift of tongues
7. Holy Spirit baptisms
8. Friends who watch 13 hours of Lord of the Rings Extended Edition because you’ve never seen it
9. Honey butter popcorn. If you’ve never tried it, do it.
10. Dogs in every home we visit
11. The late night crew
12. Late night talks
13. Late night snacks (in addition to chocolate rice)
14. God providing more than we need
15. Random songs about random things
16. 6 girls with nothing and everything in common
17. Becoming family and creating a home together
18. Having people that make up the other 2/3 of your logistics brain
19. Literally sitting at the foot of a volcano in the 24 hours when it’s not exploding
20. Riding up to said volcano in the backs of trucks (somehow without injury)
21. Binge watching The Chosen
22. The best photographers
23. Scrapbooking
24. So many people being open to the gospel
25. The WiFi room
26. Duolingo 
27. Hotel pools before we got kicked out
28. $10 air conditioning 
29. 4000 colones laundromat 
30. New music
31. Friends who write worship songs
32. Spontaneous improv
33. Hair wraps
34. Spontaneous tattoos (even though it didn’t feel like a blessing in the moment)
35. More coffee shops than I can remember 
36. 30 Quetzal ($3) Converse in the market
37. Learning to surf
38. Fighting for friendships 
39. ATV rides
40. A smoothie a day
41. Beach sunsets
42. Church in a garage 
43. Personal Uber drivers (shoutout to Fernando)
44. Fitting 6 people in said Uber and thanking God that the brakes didn’t go out
45. Pollo Campero ice cream
46. Pollo Campero food. Sometimes. Not really, but you take what you can get.
47. Beauty for Ashes in a hot chocolate shop. 
48. Sweet Maria’s panqueques 
49. “Con permiso!” First thing in the morning (or “Ay perdon!” per Jenna)
50. Cafe Arenales (it’s like a mocha milkshake, so basically heaven on earth)
51. Jenna’s guac 
52. Watching a volcano explode on our 2nd night in Guat
53. Finding both AC AND WiFi in 1 place
54. FaceTime calls from home
55. Marco Polo
56. Street food
57. God time in a beer garden (who would have thought??)
58. A little bit of Asheville in Antigua 
59. Surprise birthday parties… and a funeral
60. Ice cream cake 
61. SEVEN BAPTISMS IN ONE DAY!!!!!!!!!
62. Sweet letters from friends to send me off 
63. Being welcomed into the most grand and most humble homes all the same
64. Random trips to the city for dinner
65. Being Maria’s pack mules at the market 
66. Teaching Alex English (“jes!” And “Que cute!”)
67. Valentines dates with Powla
68. Getting impromptu Spanish lessons from Clarita
69. Sorting 1,000 guisquiles with Carmelina and Genesis 
70. Learning what a guisquil is
71. “Hola Gringas!!” And hugs from Leandro 
72. Watching the 3rd To All the Boys
73. Getting fresh flowers from the market
74. Learning all about the Destiny Assessment
75. Chikys. Seriously, they’re so addicting 
76. Getting to see scarlet macaw, toucans, bats, and iguanas all in your front yard
77. Sorting trash (I know what you’re thinking, but it really was a blessing)
78. Random photoshoots on the beach at sunset 
79. Learning who you would’ve been friends with in high school 
80. Preaching for the first time ever (yep, that happened. I’m still processing)
81. Bikes that prevent you from walking in the heat but fall apart
82. Needing an ID after making 3 purchases with the same card and some random guy offering to pay for you
83. Snuggles, even when it’s hot and sticky
84. Finding a deep tide pool on a very long beach walk
85. Painting the entire city in murals 
86. Praying over the city during Semana Santa
87. Washing more windows than we can count
88. Discovering new podcasts 
89. Really good Indian food in Costa Rica
90. Getting to see a surfing dog
91. Being spoiled in every housing situation 
92. A new ring in each country
93. American thrift stores
94. No positive Covid tests on the team (one of 2 teams without it!)
95. God somehow multiplying our cash to have exactly the right amount for the hostel
96. Everyone making the flight after being less than a half hour from missing it
97. Discovering how to download free e-books from the library (and probably reading way too much)
98. Rooming beside the guys’ bathroom and hearing the best music and conversations 
99. So much life change. Us and the people we’ve met.
100. Spiritual freedom 

I can’t believe we’re already 100 days into the Race! God has been so good and so incredibly faithful to us. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s easy to see how He’s moving and growing us. Stay tuned for more blessings and adventures in the Dominican Republic and beyond!