One thing I’m learning about the Race is that goodbyes are never easy. It doesn’t matter if it’s your family at the beginning of the Race, the family you’ve developed 3 months in, or the family that’s just taken you in for the past month. It’s never easy and it’s never fun. Unfortunately, sometimes goodbyes are necessary as we look to move forward, to press onward in this life. While saying goodbye may be essential, forgetting is not. We are not called to forge the things we have learned. We are not called to forget the people we’ve met. We’re simply called to move on. So, all that being said, I just want to share some of the things I learned in Eldoret, one of the toughest goodbyes yet.
It’s a privilege to serve, not a sacrifice. Day in and day out we were reminded of this as Patrick and Emmy served us, smile upon their faces. It didn’t matter what the need was, scratch that-rarely was there a need because Patrick and Emmy were on top of it. Their self-sacrificing service was truly an inspiration to me and to so many others of the way to humbly serve with all your heart and to see it as an honor and a privilege to be able to do so.
The joy of the Lord is my strength. Never have I seen this lived out as much as I did in Patrick. That man has more joy than probably our entire squad combined-and that’s not because we’re miserable people! Patrick truly knows what it means to draw his strength from the Lord’s joy and it was beautiful to see how this affected his daily life. I know it made me want to draw from that more and to live a more joyful life and honestly, I can. I have the choice to do so-and so do you 🙂
In everything, and through everything, pray. I don’t know how many conversations I had with Emmy where it always came back to this-pray. And I don’t blame her, prayer is amazing. But just the reminder of the importance of prayer in everything and through everything was so powerful and so humbling. Through prayer, we can do anything.
While I learned much more this month, those were the main nuggets. This month contained many memorable moments and I can’t thank you enough Patrick and Emmy for taking such good care of us. May God bless you and your family tenfold for all that you’ve done for us!
And just for fun, here’s my Kenya video. Enjoy!
