A simple
fact:
The World
Race is a Marriage.
Let me talk
you through what I have experience with my dating, wedding day, honeymoon, life together, holidays and vacations all while on the world race.
Dating–
Once I was accepted
to the Race I was added to a facebook page with all the racers on my squad.
Yes, I facebook stalked most of all my squad mates. I was excited to get to
know them. Group chats started months before the race. Although it was just
facebook chat which means you can only get to know people to a certain point.
Dont worry though, there was training camp; aka our first actual date. We all
quickly got to know each others humor and backgrounds a little more along with
trying to figure out how the race would go. We were excited to be around each
other. We were excited to get to know each other as best as possible. When we
finally found out our teams at the end of training camp we were even more
excited. These were the people we would know the greatest. We will actually be
living with each other for a year! (not
actually true. very very few people were together all year.)
The Wedding
Day–
After we had
dated for a couple of months, we headed to Launch; aka our wedding day.
Parents and family members came for this special day. A great celebration went
on during our worship with our loved ones. Everyone coming together for such a
great life changing event. No one would ever be the same again. As we left our
loved ones we joined together (our team) as one. A bond made to better serve
our Lord. We didn’t have a clue as to what we were doing but we had each other
to rely on.
Honeymoon–
Everything
is new and exciting. We all got along! Not much complaining. Lots of laughter. Date
nights. Game nights. All around fun times! This happened at the beginning of each
new team (due to team changes) and we would all say how great we fit together.
How much fun we had. Silly us we didn’t realize we were just in our honeymoon
phase.
Living Life
Together–
After the
honeymoon we became very close due to our testimonies, feedback, and very tight
quarters literally! We knew that only the strong ones make it through. We had
each other to talk to and cheer us up when we were feeling down. There was no
room for secrets. There was no room for personal space. What we had, we all
shared. We all knew our worth and how we fit into this marriage. We all
mattered and were needed. If one person was hurting, we all were hurting. We
had to support each other no matter what; especially with kids. If one of us
had to discipline a child we all had to be aware and support their decision. If
we didn’t the kids would take notice and act on it; not good. We all took turns
with cleaning up our areas and putting each other first to show our love. A bad
home life = a bad ministry life. A great home life = a great ministry life.
Holidays–
When the
holidays came around we obviously had to celebrate! On Thanksgiving we went to
an American owned restaurant. It was the first American food we had in ages. It
was delicious! Christmas rolled around and we couldn’t go visit our parents so
we were all feeling a bit down. That didn’t stop us from pushing on. We gave
ten street boys the best day of their lives by spoiling them while explaining to
them what we were doing why. New Years came next and we were able to celebrate
with family friends with story’s, games, and gun shots (fireworks?) in the far
distance. The love holiday, Valentines day, came shortly after. Us, women were
never spoiled like we were on that cold wintery day. Celebrated with a flight
over Mt Everest and our men surprised us with a surprise date at a 5-star
resort overlooking the mountains. When birthdays came around we tried our best
to celebrate but lets be honest for a second, birthdays are overrated. Half
the people in the world don’t even know their birthday.
Vacations–
Living day
in and day out we found times where there was nothing to say. We were all conversated
out. Which is why it was important to take vacation days. We went to a
beautiful island in Malaysia where our hotel was right on the beach. We found
adventure in Nepal and jumped off the worlds highest swing and bungee. We
rafted the Nile River in Uganda and went caving in Ukraine.
The race
made me prepare for my marriage in the future
(hopefully sooner rather than
later lol)–
Before the
race I had no want to be married. I thought it was a scam. I saw people marry
and divorce like it was nothing. I had no respect for marriage which was weird
because I grew up with the same two people who well, who birthed me. I didn’t
go through a messy divorce. I didn’t have parents that argued all the time. I
didn’t have parents that hated each other. I grew up with parents who got
along. I grew up with parents who worked things out. I grew up with parents who
put others first. But I didn’t pay attrition to them, I paid attention to the world
well America. I saw marriage without God. During the race is when it dawned on
me, God is needed in marriage. Why? God is love and you can do all things
through Christ. This includes a HAPPY MARRIAGE!
All you need is God and if you
want a guideline, grab your bible!
The Adoption Song:
