Write a Guest Blog???? Are you kidding me?!!! 🙂Have to be honest…when Becca asked me to write a guest Blog post….I immediately got a little nervous. Lots of doubt, fear, questioning ensued. What do I say? Will it be relevant? Am I faithful enough? What if I offend someone? What can I say that will make a difference?
After getting over my initial anxiety…And praying about it…Some ideas started to form.When Becca came to her dad and I to let us know she wanted to do The World Race…we were all gung ho, supportive, excited, great experience for her..all good right? Well as it closer to her launch date…I found myself getting a little bit more anxious and nervous and not wanting to give her up to this 11 month long trip. More questions….how will this experience change her? Will she still be as close to us when she gets home? Will she be “too religious”? Will she still be the Becca we love so much? I didn’t really share these feelings with anyone. But just tried to shove it down and just chalk it up to “this is normal”. And then…she came back from training camp and my fears were realized. When she came home from her 2 weeks of training camp in August she was ON FIRE FOR JESUS!!! And although that was a little unnerving, I was more taken aback by her judgement of our beliefs and our faith. I didn’t feel she was meeting her Dad and I (or anyone else for that matter) where we were at in our “walk”. It created an immediate divide between us….in a magnitude I had never felt before. It felt very different than other disagreements or troubles we have had over the years. It scared me….and made me question her going got this trip. Over the course of the next few days, many conversations occurred and I began to realize that all of this was God’s work with our family. The conversations were hard…but necessary and growth happened for all of us.
*Dad and I realized that she has her own path that may not be what we want for her or believe in…but that is ok.
*Thankful for the amazing BEDROCK of our relationship with her that we have created that enables us to communicate our way through anything.
*Her faith—-caused us to ask questions about our own faith and created conversations of honesty around that.
*Gave us the opportunity to show her that everyone is not where she is or going to experience what she will on The Race and the part of her growth was to be able to share her love for Jesus with no judgement of others place along the spectrum of belief and faith…and to gain respect for that so she can speak so people can hear her.
*That we all need to practice Gentleness, Grace and Goodness
The other moment of growth that happened for me during that time is the idea of TRUST. From the point she arrived home from training camp…all the way up until she left (and continuing while she is gone), I came to a place of peace about her going….because I TRUST her. I trust how I raised her, I trust who she is and what she stands for, I trust her to make good decisions, I trust her to God’s care. And I came to a place where I know that she is EXACTLY right where she belongs…that she is called to serve and spread that beautiful light and energy and that infectious laugh all over the world! Her life is meant to be full, every moment and situation is part of her ongoing journey to experience God and all that He has for her. And….through that…I know that at some level…that this is true for all of us.
