One and a half weeks left in Swaziland. After close to three months here there is a lot to reflect on. But that’s not what your going to see here. This blog is about my brother Layton Hahn, and about his current walk with the lord. Layton is from Spokane Washington. He is 20 years old and graduated high school in 2017. He was a pretty stellar football player. He is one of the most faithful people I have ever met. He is such a good example of what a Godly man should look like. All of that could have easily not been the case however, a few weeks before our training camp Layton’s mother passed away. She passed late June and our training started July tenth. We honestly had no idea if he was even going to come to training or if he was going to come on the race. Layton has a drive for the Lord that I have never seen. So I just wanted to highlight him and show everyone the man of God I get to live with for the rest of my time on the race. Basically I got the opportunity to interview him and just really get to know what is in the heart of Layton. There are some commentaries of things that happened throughout the interview, so just be ready for those. So here is Layton Kurtis Hahn.
What’s been the most challenging part of the race for you?
“The most challenging is not being with family, just knowing that I am not there for them. Even though I know god has still placed me here it’s still really rough.”
How has the Lord used your moms death to show his glory?
“First off he used her sickness to be able to bring my father to Christ and my whole family heard the gospel. It also helped me to be able to rely on the Lord. He really showed me what Jesus said at the sermon on the mount “blessed are those who mourned”. He has also been able to give me an inhuman amount of joy. He has also given me an unexplainable amount of comfort. The cummunity that he has placed around me is incredible. He showed me what it means when he talks about in Romans 8:28 in ALL things god works for those who loves him. Because of what God has shown me I truly believe that my mother is with him and that she came to him within her last days or even last moments.”
How have you remained faithful through this time?
“It is easy for people to assume that just because I’m not crying 24/7 they think that I’m holding things back and that I’m unhealthy. And there have been times that I have actually tried to be mad at God but I physically cannot be mad at God. And that it 100 percent the Holy Spirit. A gift from god that really does have nothing to do with me.”
What has been the most challenging part in moving forward?
“The most challenging part has been comprehending the fact that I just simply don’t have a mother. I just don’t have that person anymore. I haven’t been home for very long since it happened so I think that’s why it can be hard to comprehend it sometimes. Its not that I don’t think about all the time i just haven’t haven’t been home.”
At launch and training camp did you feel like you were supposed to be here? Why? And has that changed?
Training camp. I knew I supposed to be there because God had already made that clear to me. I didn’t want to be there at all. I just wanted to be back with family. I was also really worried about leaving my community at home.
Launch: I also knew that I was supposed to be there but that was the turning point of when I actually wanted to be here. It was a complete turn around from only just over a month ago at training camp.
Why: With my mother passing so close to training camp it just absolutely sucked and it still does, but God really did make it so clear that I was supposed to go on the race. The two months that I had with my family was amazing and his timing with everything was perfect. And I mean you don’t really move on from not having a mom anymore.
(Layton attempts to throw rock at screaming lost baby goat but doesn’t see a screen in the way and the rock ultimately doesn’t even come close to the goat but fires back towards us.)
What’s your favorite thing about your mom?
“How well she loved everybody. I shared this at her funeral, her favorite part of her day was hearing about my day, that’s just how selfless she was. She was so good at being able to put herself into other peoples shoes”
“I am just so thankful to be here and God it just so faithful, he has just made this the best thing I have ever done.”
Layton’s last time with his mom: “For Mother’s Day her present was I wrote her a letter and I would take her to lunch. But she was very sick on Mother’s Day and so it was just a running gift that whenever she wanted to go I would take her. Although she still was so sick she wanted to go right before I left to Georgia for a month and a half I took her to my favorite place Ferguson’s cafe, or what my friends and I call it fergies. And we had a really good meal and we just got to talk and had some amazing conversations. After the meal I had to take her to get her blood drawn and I just got to spend the afternoon with my mom. Even though it was heartbreaking because I had to help her walk and get in and out of the car and she couldn’t talk very well just because of how weak she was. But I do feel like that was God preparing me for what was happening so soon.”
“I truly believe that god is going to use me because of the experience that I’ve gone through in other peoples life to just be there for other people and to be able to enter Into the grief with that other person”
“Through this hard time I feel like I understand Gods goodness even more than before. Praise God for that.”
Layton really has the joy of the Lord. But he also needs some help. Since I am now fully funded he is not. So if you are looking for a way to support someone please consider donating to Layton. You can get to his blog from my blog or you can use this link laytonhahn.theworldrace.com
