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After a longgg 8 months, the largely anticipated arrival of our parents FINALLY came! I cannot even tell you the amount of excitement most of us lived off of all month leading up to the big day- April 23rd. All the “dinner-talk” all month
was how we couldn’t wait for our parents to get here, give them a hug, get presents from home, send stuff home, see their reactions to “World Race Life”, and just spend some quality time with them.
The day finally arrived and those of us having parents coming were giddy all day. We made signs to greet them at the airport and we all tried to look and smell as decent as possible (after all, what parents want to be greeted by their estranged,
straggly looking homeless kids?). All excitement and tears broke loose when we first laid eyes on our parents coming from around the corner at the airport. It was pretty much like the movie moment I anticipated :). There was running, hugging, happy tears,
and non-stop chattering. The reunion was sweet and very special.
My parents were here with me in Romania Wednesday through Monday. The time was short and the days were long. Each day was jam packed from morning ‘til night with eating, ministry, community living/worship, and parent/Racer time.
Day 1, my parents and I and a small group drove to a neighboring town and passed out Romanian bibles at several different apartment complexes. It was a rainy and chilly day, so we put them in the mailboxes, prayed over each building, and
handed them to people we encountered. As soon as the rain let up we were able to talk to people more personally on the streets. The crazy part was, we weren’t even necessarily handing them out to people on the street at first, people came up to
us and asked for one! That lead to giving out more and getting to talk with people. I loved getting to see my parents’ enthusiasm for this ministry and prayer and see them fully immerse themselves in what we were doing.
Day 2, we visited a very small village about 30 minutes away. John, a member of Hope Church in Draganesti-olt, invited us into his home. We sat around their small dining room table and snacked as he explained his incredible redemption story
of how he went from legitimately going into the church to kill the pastor to encountering Jesus and getting saved. Talk about God changing lives! We hear incredible stories like this all the time on The Race, but I loved that my parents got to hear something
like this for themselves. Then we went next door to some poor families and visited with them briefly and gave them some necessities for their family.
The reactions of the parents to the living conditions in the village gave
me a taste of American culture shock. Living myself and seeing people live in (what is considered in America as) poverty level conditions absolutely does not faze me as all. It’s so normal to me now. As a World Racer
we now take NOTHING for granted and consider EVERYTHING a blessing. We get a bed and pillow for the month in the place we’re staying? SCORE! I don’t have to blow up my sleeping mat for once. Indoor heat or air conditioning
whaaaattttt!?! I’m living the life!
I realize these things are just so normal in America. But living without them for so long is now my new “normal” so any of these luxuries are such a blessing to us. But to our parents, they couldn’t get over it. I think our life was culture
shock for them. And seeing their reactions to all of this gave
me culture shock of what I will return to…
Day 3, the church hosted a huge children’s program where kids came from all over. It was very well organized with lots of activities throughout different stations. My parents and I lead up the “Songs” station. After an hour and a half,
I’m pretty sure we sang Father Abraham and Jesus Loves Me at least a few dozen times. We were exhausted but had a blast doing it and seeing the kids participate and have a great time as well.
In addition to afternoons full of ministry, we ate all our meals together with the rest of the Racers and parents, had evening worship/sharing time, and also a little bit of free time so we could just hang out with our parents.
Day 4 (Sunday), we attended Hope Church. I helped lead the English part of worship time and my dad had the opportunity to stand in front of the church and share about his feelings and experiences in Draganesti-olt. Right after church we
quickly left the church, hopped on a bus, and traveled to Bucharest where we would be spending one last night together in the city! My parents treated me to a fancy Italian restaurant (a little outside the $5/day WR budget, but it was on the “Bank of Dad”
:P) and we just spent a very nice, relaxing, quiet time together reminiscing of our experiences together and taking in our last moments.
It was definitely a little weird going from not seeing or hardly talking to my parents in 8 months to them suddenly being around all the time. But it was great though because we were finally able to have full conversations that were uninterrupted
by lost internet connection, pixely video, or having to go to work/sleep because of time differences. I LOVED that my parents got to come and get a short and sweet taste of exactly what my life has been like the past 8 months. What I loved most, though, was
getting to do ministry with my parents. From handing out Bibles, to praying, building relationships, and serving children. This is my life. This is
our life. And
WE do all things, take every breath, love every person, to the glory of God.
Love you mom and dad! Thank you SO much for coming. It will definitely be going down in the books as one of my favorite World Race memories <3
