**Thank you so much to Esther Paine for adopting my India jar!!! This has been one of my favorite months, I highly recommend going to India!!**
It is crazy that PVT is over and our parents are back at home or traveling the world to see one more country. Having our parents in Hyderabad, India was CRAZY!! They were IN INDIA WITH US, in the hot sun, eating the spicy food and working in God’s kingdom. We laughed and cried, we shared stories of the past and dreams of the future. I taught my mom how to barter at the markets and how to make street dogs fall in love with you. I taught my dad how to eat with his hands (he didn’t love it), and trust the crazy driving of India by sitting back and being thankful that it wasn’t your responsibility to drive.
My parents taught me, that they are always up for anything, after 8 months of settling with lukewarm/hot water there is NOTHING better than a glass of nice cold water. I also learned my stomach has probably gotten used to the water of the world and different foods because Delhi belly is real. As I’ve been reflecting on my own and with my squad it’s been so refreshing to hear we all had the same worries about our parents coming. Would they do okay traveling so far? Were they going to like the food/ try the food? What would it be like after that initial hug off the bus was over? How do I tell them the hard things?
We had so much going through our heads and they were all relatively the same! They all boiled down to one idea and question: would my parents still love me? Just writing this seems insane. Like seriously Emma, your parents are always going to love you. They may not always agree with all your choices but your job as the child is to stir the pot, and parents jobs are to turn the heat down when it starts to boil over. Yes, your parents will always love you, no matter how much has happened on the Race, they will never stop loving me. The World Race has changed me. I’ve become a lot more self aware, Im learning to give grace abundantly to everyone, including myself. I’m constantly growing, one day I hope to fully step into the woman God has made me to be but for right now He has made me to be broken and desiring to become complete through him.
It’s kind of funny but, while my parents were in India I began to see them as real people. Not just my providers, the person I call when I’m walking home, a shoulder to cry on and to be honest a piggy bank. But I started to see them as people who are trying their best. They didn’t receive a manual when they brought me home from the hospital. Its my moms favorite thing to say, it’s harder to get a driver’s license than it is to get a baby. My parents did the best they could raising my brother and I. It’s the same with the World Race and being away from home for a year. No one gave us a manual, sure others had done it before us but no two journeys are the same. So sure maybe they could have done something better raising me, but they did their best using their best judgment. They are not perfect people and I realized for so much of my life I thought they were, I was putting the expectation on them to always be perfect, because that’s what parents are. Parents give advice to children, we choose not to listen then later find out mom/dad was totally right. Parents can have fears and worries, they can be unsure, and they can cry. They can and should be less than perfect and I’ve figure that out. I want to know what they are going through so I can be there to support them and pray for them.
I’m starting to think PVT (Parent Vision Trip) is more about us than our parents. It’s more about us seeing how much growth we’ve had in 8 months than our parents seeing the growth. Our parents have watched us grow up our whole lives they’ve seen us change from the 3-year-olds who couldn’t share to become the 18-year-olds heading off to college and beyond. They have baby books filled with our first steps, our first burp and a photo of us looking for a fart. But as the child, we often miss the growth and change. Because the arms that hold us close never change, they still grip you just as tight and the rub on the back feels just as good. Sometimes I struggle to see the growth I’ve had if its not on a score sheet or explicitly told to me. What I did see is my parents being vulnerable with me, I saw them asking hard questions and answering hard questions. I know it was hard for them to come out on the field with me to experience a level of Christianity that is so much more than they are used to. I saw them stepping out and talking to other parents, I heard about them opening up to other parents revealing what they are going through finding the joys of community that we are blessed to be a part of every day on the World Race.
I was able to give my parents so much grace during our 5 days together. Things they said and did, that before the Race would have made me speak up and “attempt to give feedback” I found myself noticing but not reacting. I would listen to the conversations and realize I’m giving mom/dad grace right now, almost shocked at myself. Grace has not been easy for me. I struggle every day to give it to other people and myself and never is grace without effort. However, when my parents were here grace became natural to me. I overlooked the annoying ‘parent things’ they did, instead seeing their personalities shine. I saw their excitement in conversations and desire to connect with the people that are so important to me. I saw them as me, 8-10 months ago. When grace was just entering into my mind, and learning how to give and receive it was still months away.
As a unit we had a lot of fun, we explored different parts of Hyderabad and we had coffee and Indian food (we also had American food). We had some really good discussions, ones that helped me know them better taking away all of my assumptions that I’ve held. We worked alongside each other at our ministry site working with kids who have disabilities. Getting to take this huge group of kids to the park an hour away riding…big coach buses was one of the highlights. Cramming as many people as we could inside, then running, spinning, pushing and holding the kids when we got there allowed me to see my parents and all of the squad and their parents loving like Jesus loves. It was sad to see our parents leave, but I know I am only partly through growing closer to the Lord. I need to finish this journey on the World Race, and figure out what God has planned for me.
MY PARENTS went home and got a beautiful little puppy hours after returning from India.
I am pleased to introduce miss. Sadie Donahue, she’s 6 months old and I already love her so much from across the world!!!
Emma
