Editor’s note: I asked my awesome mama (Janel Jackson) to write a blog post from her own perspective regarding Launch! Check this out.
16 June 2017. That’s the day my heart was ripped from my chest. My oldest child left home for the first time. It was awful saying goodbye to her, knowing I wouldn’t be able to see for at least 14 months. She called at least once a day – not only to talk to me, but also to watch movies with her brother and sister, and to catch up with her daddy. It has taken me a while to feel like doing anything “fun” since she left. I’ve felt like I was leaving her out somehow.
As we approached 11 September 2017 – the date of her World Race “launch”, I felt the same anxiety creeping in on me again. There’s so much unknown coming our way. For the next 9 months my baby – YES! She is STILL MY BABY – will visit places where she may be treated poorly, robbed, be uncomfortable, have conflict with people, encounter frightening situations, and who knows what else….and I won’t be able to do anything to help. I won’t be there to hug her and tell her it will be ok. I won’t be able to listen and be a sounding board. I’m her Mama and I won’t be able to “mother” her for the next 9 months.
Over the next 9 months, my baby will experience God in such a real and personal way. She may see miracles and be used of God to touch the lives of people who would not hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ without her willingness to go….and I won’t be part of it. I’ll miss all of her experiences over this next 9 months. The 9 months will bring about a change in my precious Chessie – she will not come home the same person as when she left. She will come home even MORE independent (is that even possible?!) and more knowledgeable about the world we live in. After 9 months of world travel she will understand more about the issues we hear about, more tuned in to what the rest of the world is dealing with.
I find it interesting that the World Race is 9 months long. My little girl transformed from an embryo to a little girl in my womb over 9 months. Another transformation will take place over the next 9 months. I don’t know what that transformation will look like but I’m excited to see it. I’m honored and humbled that the God who created the universe has called my little girl to this amazing journey. And not only has He called her to take this journey, but He invited countless people around the world to be a part of it and our lives by supporting her in prayer and financing her journey. I don’t know what will happen over these next months, but I know God will be glorified. “For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things. To Him be the glory.” Romans 11:36
