I have been on the World Race for 5 and half months now. To try and sum up the experience in just a few words the WR has been a crazy, interesting, challenging, and fun experience.
The race has definitely caused me to further seek and build my relationship with my heavenly Father, but seeing as it is a Christian mission and discipleship trip there really is no surprise there. What has surprised me is how often I am reminded of my earthly father during this trip.
In Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia I was reminded of my dad as I was blessed with a back massage from one of the cheap local massage places. I would think of how much my dad enjoys getting massages and how mush he would enjoy being able to get a hour massage for only $6.
In Cambodia we slept out in our tents which reminded me of all the camping trips my father took our family on during the summers as a boy. Beyond that, I felt like my dad as I helped trouble shoot and repair a trailer’s wheel housing. My hands covered in grease examining the various components and figuring out how to repair the wheel I pictured my dad standing over his work bench doing something very similar.
In Vietnam, as I sped through the city traffic on the back of a scooter, I would remember the trips I would take on the back of my dad’s motorcycle. (Of course my dad would prefer driving along the curvy country roads on a BMW rather than on a scooter through the city.) The Vietnamese cuisine would remind me of the couple of times I shared lunch with my Dad at a Vietnamese restaurant near his work. Even eating some Vietnamese peanut brittle would cause me to think of him, though it is nothing resembling Sees peanut brittle.
In Estonia it was the manual labor: staining wood, making burn piles, shoveling dirt, cutting down trees, chopping wood, and building a path. At one point I helped put a wooden bench together and after watching me work my host inquired what prior exerience I had in woodworking to which I explained I had learned a lot from my dad. I would also think of my dad and how he enjoys having a fire in the fire place as I kept the fire going in the fireplace heating our living room.
In Ukraine our ministry was helping the missionary family we were staying with finish their home expansion. Anyone who knows about my parent’s house understands how this made me feel right at home.
There have been numerous other things that caused me to think of my dad. There has been the couple of times when, to the delight of my teammates, I had the opportunity to make my dad’s breakfast scramble. Of course anyone one who knows my dad, knows that any siting of a BMW motorcycle would bring him to mind.
Each time I am reminded of my dad I am so grateful for the blessing he is in my life. I think maybe the reason I am reminded of him so much is because God used him to prepare me for this journey. He taught me how to work hard, how to use my hands and my mind, how serve, care for and lead others and how to follow God. Travelling around the world I get to see how the faithfulness of my dad to obey God in loving and guiding his family, God is using to bless the world. But even more special to me God has showed me how much He has blessed me in giving me my Dad.
Dad you are awesome and I love you so much. My words cannot fully express how thankful I am to God for you. Thank you for being a beautiful example of our heavenly Father.
Happy Father’s Day Dad!!! I love you.
