I recently asked my mom to write a small blog series about what it is like to not only be the parent of a World Racer, but the parent of one who decided to go back out on the field a second time. Here is the first blog about it. She has another in progress and my dad is working on one as well. Stay tuned and check under the ::Dear Parents:: category to see all these posts together eventually.
To Parents of World Racers:
Here is just the start of writing down the many thoughts and feelings about being the parent of a World Racer….
I will never forget the moment I knew my daughter would move through her life touching the lives of others, teaching others, impacting and changing lives-all for the glory of and in service to God.
It was the near the end of the service on Christmas Eve and the choir, each member holding a lit candle, lined the walls and the aisle of the sanctuary as they sang Silent Night. Amanda Kay, just weeks past her second birthday, stood beside me on the pew so she could get a better view. Amanda watched in amazement, taking in the candlelight, the sounds, the smell, the excitement in the air. Her eyes sparkled and her smile was magical. When I saw the look on her sweet face I knew…I just knew..that she would be called to service. In that moment I also knew that it would be up to me to nurture, to teach, and be an example to this small person so that when she got the call that would inevitably come, she would be ready. I understood at that moment that this child was just on loan to her daddy and me. I knew and understood that, just as she was chosen for a special purpose to honor God, so were her father and I. We were chosen to be her parents. We don’t know why He chose us; there is nothing special about us. We are just regular people whose goal was to be good parents. We took the responsibility seriously.
After leaving church on that Christmas Eve I wondered how I would prepare her, how would I know what she needed to learn? I knew that God wouldn’t have honored me with the task if I wasn’t capable, nor would He have trusted me with this little miracle unless He had prepared me for the task. But I didn’t feel prepared. I had some work to do…so…I began to study. I studied parenting and discipline, anti-bullying and how to help kids learn. I went to classes and workshops, conferences and presentations. The education made me a better teacher for the preschoolers in my classes and I passed that information on to their parents…but was it enough for teaching Amanda? It had to be, because I didn’t know any other way.
Did I think about preparing her every day; no. Did I obsess about it? Not really. But it was always in the back of my mind; I never forgot the task assigned to me. Sometimes it may have made things difficult for Amanda; she didn’t know what God and I were up to.
When Amanda was 16, her dad and I started to attend a church closer to our home. Amanda was busy with school, cheerleading and band and she wasn’t interested in going to church with us. But we were pretty relentless, and one day I guess we caught her off guard and she came along. God knows how to entice teenagers-and the youth group just happened to have a field trip planned. I’m not sure what happened during that trip, but Amanda came home a changed girl. She had a new light in her heart and in her eyes and I knew she was on her way.
We were not surprised when Amanda told us she wanted to attend a small Christian college to study ministry. We were not surprised when, after graduation, she started working at a church in a small town. We thought we had done our job and that she would spend her days using her gifts to impact teenagers, but her dad and I didn’t know what God and Amanda were up to. We were surprised one night, however, when she called out of the blue. “I love the kids in youth group, I love my church, I love my church family…but I have to go bigger,” she said, using that tentative voice kids use to lessen the blow when they are about to tell their parents about a decision they made, and they aren’t sure what their reaction will be. “How big?” I asked, but I already knew the answer. She was a college graduate, she had a job, and a house. She wasn’t asking permission, she was informing us of her decision. She was asking for our support, which she already knew was hers. “Umm….around the world.” I don’t recall if I answered right away, I think I wanted to savor those last few worry-free moments. As she spoke about The World Race I could tell she was excited about the idea, but could she really give up the comforts of life in the USA? An only child for the first six years of her life, and her only sibling is a boy, she always had her own bedroom, she didn’t need to share her clothes, her car, her food. How would she be able to share cramped spaces and snacks? The ‘what-ifs’ came fast and furious, although I didn’t voice them. Clearly she had given her decision a great deal of thought. Once the impact of her words sunk in, I knew, the way I knew when she was just two years old, that she was in better hands than mine. She would be safe, she would be protected.
But-because we are her parents and we had just paid for her college education, one big question we had for her; how much would this cost, and where would the money come from? Fundraisers, Mom…was her answer. The daunting task of coming up with the money was almost as scary as knowing she was travelling to some dangerous countries, she would be exposed to diseases and dangerous situations. The answer to all my fears was always the same; this is what she was born to do; this is what she was raised to do. If it is meant to be, the money will appear. There were times when we really had to dig in, and many times I felt as if I was working harder for the funds than she was. I kept in mind the lives she would impact, the good she would do, the people she would teach about Jesus, the friendships, the connections, the opportunities. How lucky her dad and I were to play such a part in something so big. If we couldn’t go ourselves, we could help Amanda along the way. Is it the life we had chosen for her? No-it is the life that was chosen for her by the one who knows the role of each one of us. It is the life she was born for, the life she was raised for. We are so very proud. xo
