I'm back where it all started, Gainesville. For some reason it doesn't feel 100% real. There's so much nostalgia and realization going on inside my head, so much of it that it's overwhelming. I feel like I haven't been here for so long, which is true but this time, it feels so real and pure. It feels so good to be back. The good feelings are outweighing the bad feelings, which is awesome. 

As I walk around the base and think back to training camp, I realize and see how much I've grown and changed; how far I've come in my walk with God. I feel like a completely different person now. When I look in a mirror, I see a different person. 

But the biggest thing I noticed about myself is my mentality. Traveling the world and living a missionary lifestyle for nine months has changed my mindset. When we were traveling back here to Gainesville, I was thinking,

"It feels like we're just going to pur next country and continuing with the race."

It hadn't really hit me that I was going home or that the race is over. My mindset and what I was feeling was that we're starting a new ministry in a different country. And not only that, but this feeling is the strongest it's ever been in my life right now, even though this mission trip is over. My mentality has changed to be based around missions, serving, and spreading the love of Jesus. 

I'm less than a week from going home but that's all that's on my mind. The World Race may be over, but my race isn't over, it never will be.

"How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you"              Psalm 119: 9-11