Heyyy good afternoon friends and fam,

I am writing to y'all from.... drum roll por favor.... Atlanta, Georgia! The time to launch is nearly here :) My mum and I touched ground here yesterday around 3 pm and have been kind of just chilling since. We meet with the group around noon tomorrow to start meetings, then all of us racers take off for base on Sunday afternoon!

I am so excited guys!!!!!!!!!! I have been on such a heightened rollercoaster of emotions for the last couple of weeks between sadness, excitement, relief, excitement, grief, stress, anxiousness, and again, excitement. But now that I am here, I've fully come to terms with leaving my life behind and moving forward into what the Lord has called me to do. Well, I don't mean leaving it behind but you know what I mean. 

If He didn't before, God sure has every part of my life now. I am reliant on Him for all my needs, and I have full faith that He'll take care of me and everyone I'll be spending the next 9 months with. Through the feelings of everything these last few weeks, one of my good friends, Ellie, who I really look up to, encouraged me to read 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 and I found it to be extremely comforting. In a nutshell, the scripture kind of relieves us and validates our feelings of distress and anxiety, not by telling to not be nervous or distressed, but by telling us that He is there alongside us to comfort us, and that it's through our suffering that we are saved. And while we endure our sufferings and receive the Lords comfort, we can comfort others how we were comforted by Jesus. 

Also, some other news Im not too sure I've touched much on, I got accepted into Athens College of Ministry! So while I am on the race, Ill be earning 24 credits through the school, and will potentially be continuing my education here next year, but who knows :) I'll be majoring in intercultural studies! 

Alright y'all, one of my friends just arrived to the hotel so I'm going to go meet her! Love you guys, stay tuned! 

-Lilli