Epilogue - Day 5 of 5: Over the last 36 days, I've put my story out there to the social media world not knowing what people would think or how they would respond (and to be honest, it overwhelms the daylights out of me to think about those things before I post). And YOU, dear reader, have shown up. You have followed along, read absurdly long posts, and entered into a story that’s not your own. Some of you have liked, commented, sent messages, and spoken words to me about it. I had no idea that God would use these posts in so many ways. And for that, boy do I thank both God and you.⁣

When people like us jump into a venture like this, we exit our independent American lifestyle and enter into a world of interdependence on others—some will pray, some will follow along with our email updates and posts, some will babysit our kids while we pack, some will offer financial support, some will let us stay at their house when we’re traveling, some will care and ask how we’re doing, etc. We have never needed that much help from other people before, but we will soon. ⁣

That can feel like a hard pill to swallow when we’re so used to doing everything ourselves, but #31daysofcalling has given me a taste of how beautiful that life of interdependence will be. On Day 1, I felt unsure, nervous, and vulnerable. Now I feel known, heard, supported, cared about, and encouraged. There is a very tangible sense of feeling like we’re not in this alone, that people are holding us up in thought and prayer—that feeling is so real I can almost reach out and touch it.⁣

Y’all, we are all in this together. Not just in this Ethiopia thing together, but in this life together. We’re all living our own lives, fighting our own battles, sifting through our own hurts, and taking steps into our own futures—but it’s SO. MUCH. BETTER. when we do it together. Let’s get over our desires for independence and hiding our struggles, our fears about what people will think—and instead let other people in to our stories. I’ll be the first to tell you, beautiful things can happen when you do. ❤️ #lovesinethiopia