So here we are, Month 6 – smack dab middle of The World Race. Needless to say, it has been quite a ride of a month here in Colombia, and it hasn’t exactly been unicorns and sunshine all the time. People would say that the halfway point was hard, but I didn’t really see it coming to be honest.
I’ll come right out and share that my beloved teammate since Day 1 and new team leader in my second team, Jarrad “Jerry” Ellis, went home. Let me preface everything I am about to say with this: I fully support his decision and will defend him until the end. God is doing a might work in him and preparing him for things I don’t think he can even imagine right now. With that being said, I will proceed to share how this has changed my Race.
The morning Jerry left, my teammate Mollie and I woke up at 4:00 am to take him to the airport here in Bogotá. It wasn’t really registering in my mind that it was all happening – but that also may have to do with the fact that I am not a morning person. We saw Jerry off right before security, and I honestly just felt so frozen, not knowing what to say. So I told him to enjoy all the Chik-fil-A when he got home as I hugged him goodbye. That was basically it I think. Lame, I know. But I had given him a goodbye note in the car that I knew better expressed all my love and gratitude for his friendship.
We got back to our ministry site – Fundación Forma Vida, which is both a church and an after school program for kids in the area. I went back to bed and immediately fell asleep. When I woke up shortly after for breakfast, I was a little shocked at my reaction. We were all sitting at the table, with our cups of coffee – and Jerry wasn’t. He was actually gone. Like I said before, Jerry had always been there, since the very beginning. This was my first day on the Race without him, and he wasn’t coming back.
I began to cry. I had to go downstairs as some kids were showing up for the morning session because our ministry hosts preferred we not cry in front of the kids. I was a little shocked at myself. Yeah I cried when he told us about his decision to leave, but I was astounded that I had a full on emotional breakdown. I was so used to seeing Jerry every morning at breakfast, coffee in hand and Bible opened. All of the sudden, it all felt so unnatural, so wrong even. I had the morning to cry and sleep and reflect. I was so happy for him, I really was, but I was also dealing with a very real part of life – saying goodbye.
But this wasn’t a bitter or regretful goodbye. It was one of those, “Until we meet again.” I found comfort in knowing this was the Lord’s will. I wish him the best in every single endeavour. What the Lord taught me through this, was something I wrote to Jerry in my farewell note to him. It’s a quote from my devotional book, “31 Days of Praise” by Ruth Myers. This book was given to me by one of my mom’s good friends, and it has always helped to refocus my attention on the Lord – especially when things get hard. One section reads like this:
?“I praise You for Your sovereignty over the broad events of my life and over the details. With You, nothing is accidental, nothing is incidental, and no experience is wasted… every trial that You allow to happen is a platform on which You reveal Yourself… Thank You that I can move into the future non defensively with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead…”
Just the other day, I read the following from a different part of the book, and it just tied together so much of what I’m learning this month:
“How delighted I am to have You as my dwelling place where I can settle down, feel secure and be content anywhere on earth… You are my blessed home… How my soul delights to hide in the secret of Your presence… to take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.”
This month has definitely been tiring – losing our team leader and not really having the time to take a minute to process it right after. But I absolutely love the work I’m doing here with Forma Vida. We’ve visited Kindergartens and taught them English, songs, games, and performed a skit for them. In the afternoons, we help with the after school program back at the church. These kids are pretty rambunctious and wild almost all of the time, but it’s a joy to be with them because they are all just craving love and attention.
At the end of the day, I’m worn out, but I’m happy. Happy because I’m tired from playing with kids all day. It’s fulfilling. What makes my day, every day, is hearing some of my favorite kids yelling for me while I’m still downstairs in my room: “KATRINAAAAAA!” I yell back “Ya voy!” (I’m coming.) I hurry up the stairs and am greeted with hugs and kisses every time. I take a deep breath, knowing these kids are a handful, but being amongst them and being able to receive all the love their little hugs have to give makes it all worth it.
And at the end of the day, what fuels me and reenergises me is knowing who is my rest. He is my Hiding Place, and that is where I find strength.
