I absolutely adore my brother. He’s quite possibly the coolest person I’ve ever meet, way cooler than I’ll ever be that’s for sure (my friends always remind me of that fact). I think I already live in his shadow – and he’s 9 years my minor! The kid’s a total package: he’s cute (according to the mom gossip of his class, the girls seem to flock to him), he’s smart (always in the accelerated math, reading, etc groups), he’s sincere, he’s charismatic and charming (everyone who meets him automatically likes him), and he’s athletic (he plays starting shortstop, quarterbacker/linebacker, and point guard on all the top teams).
I’ve always been really close to him. We spend a lot of time hanging out together – even when the guys come over to chill, Joel is always there (as long as his bedtime permits). And to tell you the truth, I think I’d rather hang out with him than my peers, which often happens on Friday and Saturday nights. We do everything together: play video games (yes, we’ve beaten about every LEGO game on the market), make movies (oh yeah, he’s a decent actor too), play ball, wrestle, goof off, ….. there’s never a boring time when we’re together. So it goes without saying that it was pretty hard when I had to leave for college. But fortunately for the both of us, that’s only 15 minutes from home, so every weekend, I still make it to all of his games.
It’s been a pretty good 11 years with the kid. I enjoy giving him the occasional life lesson and see him react in an innocent, pre-genesis way to the world. I find that we’re the closest when he’s exposed; after he’s been knocked down. I’m always there with a giant bro hug to let him know he always shines to me. I’m really gonna miss him on the Race…
He was one of my biggest reservations about the Race. I know its gonna be really hard on him. Heck, its gonna be just as hard if not harder on me. I don’t want to miss a year of him growing up. I mean he’ll be starting middle school next year. That’s a huge step in his life. I wanna be there to ask him how his day went, help him with a math problem, and see him hit a growth spurt. I know it will only be a year apart, but I just love him soooo much. He’s the reason I get up in the morning.
When I told him I’d be leaving for 11 months, he cried for an hour straight and gave me the cold shoulder (which only lasted until I tickled/wrestled him out of it). I had to explain to him why I was going. I told him that I loved him sooooo much and I was so lucky to have him in my life. But there are a lot of kids out there who have never had an older brother to play with them. There are a lot of kids who have never felt the love that we share. I told him that I was leaving so that I could share love with the kids who needed it.
And that thought is the thing that drives me through all of the obstacles of the Race. There are so many people out there that have never felt the love that I know. So many kids that have been abandoned. Kids that haven’t felt the love of a family or the hug of an older brother. They are the reason I’m willing to leave my home and lil brother.
God loves them so much. But He doesn’t have the physical arms to hug them. That’s why we’re going on the Race. We are acting as the arms of God. Giving hugs from God to anyone who needs one.
Joel and I are related by blood, but I have a billion brothers related by….well, blood. If traced back long enough, we will all find common ancestors, making us one big human family. We are all children of the Creator. When my brother needs me, I’m there for him. I have many brothers out there who also need me. And they need to know that their Father has not forgotten about them. That He has always and will always be there for them with a hug.
