In all of my blogs, I’ve never mentioned any of my squad mate’s names. I really couldn’t tell you why. Maybe to protect their privacy? Maybe to be selfish and keep at least some things for myself. So, without further ado, this blog is dedicated to my brother, Ben Thomas Taylor.
This isn’t an easy blog to write, believe me. It’s actually the hardest I’ve ever had to write. Thursday. January 17th. 6:55 AM.
It’s the hardest goodbye that I’ve had to have while on the race. Ben Tom Tay, thank you for your presence in my life. You were the first person to go out of your way to connect me to the rest of the squad. You were the first person to facetime me and answer all of my unanswered questions. Your contact in my phone is still “Ben (WR)”. For a while, I was convinced that you were our squad leader. And in your own way, you are. You are a leader on our squad. You brought us together. You are the dang admin of our groupme, good grief. I’ll never forget meeting you in person for the first time at training camp (again, something I intend to keep for myself). I’ll never forget the first morning in Thailand when you asked me to go grab my guitar so we could start off the race in worship. And I can’t fully come to terms with the fact that I won’t end my race WITH you in worship. Only close friends of mine call me Pres… you do. I can’t begin to describe the weight that that carries for me. I could sit here and just go over memories that I have with you, but I would rather just write a blessing over all of your future endeavors.
Ben, may you continue to grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man.
Wisdom to continue to make the tough decisions. To always do the right thing in the eyes of the Lord. To always lean into God to gain more wisdom. God is wisdom, continue to press into Him.
Stature. In your case, you already have a stature on the irregular side. For one, you are unbelievably tall. I can’t help to find some sort of symbolism in that. The definition of stature is, “a person’s natural height” or “importance or reputation gained by ability or achievement” … there’s no way that there isn’t a correlation between those two definitions and you. Ben, yes, you are extremely tall but, more importantly, your reputation precedes you. Ben Thomas Taylor is a man of God. He takes each step with purpose. He is intentional with every person he comes into contact with. He is a beacon of light in a world of darkness. He is one of the most passionate guys I’ve ever met. He doesn’t just believe in Christ, he stands upon the foundation of Christ and leads others around him based on his own foundation. He stands for what is good and right and He follows the Lord even when it’s hard.
In favor with God and man. I pray that in everything that is to come, that you find God’s favor. You can never go wrong doing what’s right. Follow what the Lord calls you into and He will bless each step of obedience. With God’s favor, comes the favor of man.
For my entire life, my parents have prayed this over Boston and me. I’ve told you since the beginning that you remind me of my brother and I can only see it fitting that I pray the same thing for you.
I remember in Malaysia having to go out and do evangelism. It was the first time that I would ever have to do anything like that so, I decided that I was going to follow you because everyone knows that you are such a natural. I won’t ever be able to convey everything that I learned from you by just watching you. I also can’t express the deep sorrow that I have knowing that, for right now, I will no longer have the utter privilege of watching and learning from you. I love you, Brother. Have many days of plenty.
Yours, Pres.
