Hi everyone, I’m Jarrod. Aka that guy in a few of Abigail’s Instagram pictures, smiling like a fool and holding her hand or “this is my boyfriend” to people I’ve been introduced to.
I asked Abigail if I could try my hand at a blog post because I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned over the past two-ish months that may get an amen from some of you.
I think I will call this “how to care for your racer: a short guide to properly loving your World Race Alumni” (for other references see Galatians 5:22-23)
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Wifi is your best friend.
This isn’t so much part of the guide as it is me thanking the internet for existing. If you’re in the same position as me you know how important being able to talk with your racer was and how much you loved getting an update from them. I count it a blessing that I was able to talk to Abigail as much as I did because whenever Abigail had wifi, I was able to have conversations and talk to her about life updates and other important things.
2. It’s (very) difficult coming back to the United States. Work with that.
“Yeah it was hard, but it can’t be that much different and it should be easy to assimilate into their own country.” Ok, but its not, I’ve learned. The places a racer has been and cultures that they’ve not only observed but became accustomed to will always leave a lasting impression on them. It’s not your Disney cruise to Aruba, it’s a year of your life being spent becoming one with a people- several different types of people at that. So it’s not as simple as “coming home is easy because this is where you grew up.” It’s a learning experience of living in a culture in which unimportant things take precedence.
Which leads into…
3. Small things are a big deal, and “big” things aren’t all that important. Understand that.
So imagine that you’ve just spent three months in a country where common necessities like water are a big deal and very scarce. Now imagine knowing that it’s up to you to keep up with your water supply and drinking water is not easy to come by. You’re not just filling up at the tap. You have to make an effort to make drinkable water, and even then it’s not promised. Now, let’s go to a first world country and work a summer camp- kids are now dumping water on each other from their water bottles.
There is an actual panic that is understandable, It’s a, “no that’s important don’t do that” instinct that Racers learn. So when you share drama, or gossip, or something like that with your Racer don’t expect them to be too intrigued. It’s nothing personal but they’ve just seen some stuff that bump “first world problems” down the list a good bit.
4. Ask about the experience, not the overall “vibe.” Think about that.
It’s nice to ask “how was it?” and your racer will appreciate it, but when you ask don’t expect “it was amazing I loved it!” because it wasn’t just amazing. It was hard; it sucked sometimes. Moths flew in people’s noses and handbags were stolen. It wasn’t a vacation, it was living in broken and torn countries- learning to love a people and sharing God with them (sometimes without being able to speak a word of God). There’s so much more to the story, so be interested. This is a very hard thing to miss, because it’s just common to ask some form of “how are you” to be polite in America, but racers really want to tell you about the journey, so being interested is very helpful.
Hopefully this will put things into perspective. And remember, just love your Racer for who they have become because life is a journey, and you’re along for the ride.
-Jarrod
