The Parent Vision Trip = Racer's have the opportunity to invite their parents to join them for a week on the field as they serve in ministry together.
I had decided not to invite my parents for the week of PVT.
A. Cost
B. For me, seeing my parents mid race and still having three months left would have been hard.
So if I didn't invite my parents how and why did I attend PVT?
My teammates, Emili and Cody who had invited their parents to come out for the week had asked AIM if they could also invite our entire team to join them for the week. They said, yes. So we came.
I left Uganda a week early with my team and spent a week in Kenya from August 23-28 with twelve of my squad mates and their parents.
Even though my parents did not come to Kenya for the week it does not mean that God couldn't use that week to teach me something about my family. So I decided to take some time each day to reflect on my own family, to pull lesson out of each day and to spend time in prayer for my family.
The following are the things God showed me during that week
Day One: Thankfulness
It not that I have never been thankful for my family before this year but this year has definitely given me a completely new outlook and appreciation for them. This new view of thankfulness has been a lesson God's been teaching me since month one in Honduras. I have seen too many broken homes and the pain that comes from that. I have seen babies without parents who cling to you as they search for comfort in a simple embrace. I have seen single mothers who are tired and in need of spiritual leaders. I have seen men who are trying to fill an emptiness.
It breaks my heart that to see a whole family is becoming a rare thing in our world.
I am thankful for parents who have constantly showered me with love and encouragement– to the point of almost annoying. I am thankful for parents who face difficult time with the confidence of the Lord. Thanking for what they have taught me and their discipline. Thankful for the sacrifices they've made. Thankful for their desire to spend time with me and wanting to know who I am. Thankful for their personalities and who they are. Thankful for their unique quirks that sometimes drive me absolutely insane. Thankful for their patient and forgiving spirits.
Day Two: A Thought From Alex
The more I think about this the more of a "Duh, of course" statement it becomes. However, it was something that I had never really considered before.
"God should be the center of my relationship with my parents." —Alex Johnson
BRILLIANT!
It is funny how we as Christians focus that thought of "God Centered Relationships" on primarily our romantic interests yet fail to apply it to anywhere else. But in all honesty, God should be the center of every relationship I have in my life.
Maybe I have never considered this thought before because of the relationship roles that occur in a family between parents and their children; the caregivers and the care receivers. And those roles more or less become our "centers" And it stays that way because we don't think about it. We are more concerned about making our romantic relationship "Christ Centered" to think about any of our other relationships. I am at an age where my relationship with my parents is changing– I am entering into adulthood and the roles of caregiver/receiver are not the same. So as our relationship transitions I know I would like for it to become a mentor like relationship that is built upon God as we teach and learn from each other.
Day Three: Persistence
Peterson keeps praying.
Peterson keeps sharing.
Even when it is hard.
Even when it becomes exhausting.
Even when she is brought to tears.
Even when she is feels like giving up.
Even when she is frustrated by God's silence.
She. Keeps. Going.
There is beauty in fiercely fighting for the ones we love.
There is beauty in fiercely fighting for those [God] loves.
There is beauty even in exhaustion.
That is how I want to pray: Fiercely. Boldly. Even if I have to say the same thing over and over again.
This is how I should be praying.
The way Peterson's heart was breaking that night should be the way my heart breaks when I think about the people in my own life who do not know God. & that heartbreak should spur me on to share Christ with them.
Day Four: I'd Like to Know You
I want to spend time with my family.
But in new ways.
I want to know who my parents are outside of being my parents.
I want to know my brother outside of being my brother.
I want to know my family members outside of their family roles.
I want them to know who I am.
I want to do the things that they enjoy doing.
I want to learn their likes & dislikes.
I want to know their fears & dreams.
I want to hear their stories about growing up.
I want to know what they are learning.
I want to encourage.
I am ready to have those conversations with mom that she has always wanted to have.
I want to truly know my family and have meaningful conversation and experiences with them.
I want them to know about the Lord.
It makes me sad in way to think that I have spent more time getting to know strangers throughout my life than I have tried getting to know people I have grown up with for twenty-four years.
I want that to change.
Christmas will be fun this year. 🙂
Day Five: The Return Home
Earlier in the week Jonathan showed me some of the footage he had shot of the racers meeting their parents at the airport. There was excitement, happiness, tears, smiles, lots of chatting, long, big hugs that were followed by several smaller hugs as they walked through the airport.
While I watched all I could think about was how great a hug after eleven months was going to feel.
I thought about it again on the last day of PVT as my squad mates were saying goodbye to their parents.
I am so glad that I did not have to say goodbye twice this year– once was rough enough.
The hugs that are coming in December are to be that much greater.
Hugs that are eleven months in the making are coming!
& I am very much looking forward to my own sweet moments in the airport in Texas.
When I return home I want to find ways that I can serve my family better.
When I return home I want to better express my gratitude for my family.
