I’m blessed with two amazing people for parents! I’m continually amazed by the support that my dad and mum show me. Their faith in God and in me never cease to encourage me. I know that this journey scares them as much (if not more) than it scares me, yet, they have faith in me and what I sure I am called to do. Moreover, they have faith in God, and trust that He is in control and has the best planned for them and me.
I was recently reminded of the words of Jon Foreman “If you love her let her go” They are letting me go. Letting me go out into the scary world and rely on my own faith. This takes great faith of their own, and a great amount of love.
One of the driving motivations for me going on the World Race, is a phrase that I heard years ago. It keeps running through my mind over and over.
“Show them the love you’ve been shown”
I have been shown a great amount of love in my life. I have a loving family, loving friends, and a God who is love! The main focus for my trip is love. I want to share the love that I’ve been shown. There is no greater force in the world than love. When I was first looking into the World Race, I heard stories of new racers talking to alumni. During these conversations, the new racers were struck with how real and raw of a relationship the alumni had with God. One specific example of this is that they would address their prayers to “Daddy”. As soon as I read that I thought to myself, that I want my relationship with God to be like that. I want to be so close that I can call Him “Daddy”.
However, “Daddy” has never felt right. I can’t help but feel like it lets my earthly father down. I love words and I get sick of using the same word over and over, which has led to me having a plethora of named for my Dad. Some examples: Dad, daddy, papa, padre, papaya, pere, pear, etc… This are all names for my biological dad, and I haven’t ever felt right addressing anyone (even God) using one of them. Recently, I read a post online where the author referred to God as Abba. As soon I read that word, a still small voice spoke to me and said “call me Abba”. I shot out a quick prayer to try it. “Hey Abba, …” and instantly I felt this closeness and peace wash over me.
I had always been thought that “Abba” meant Daddy or Papa in Aramaic. It was a term of intimacy that a child used for their father. Recently this bubble burst, with an article a friend posted on Facebook. It was written by a translator, who explained that the translation for Abba is not as simple as we’ve all been led to believe. Abba is not baby talk, but rather a term used by young and old in both formal and informal contexts to both actual fathers and father figures. YET, in Modern Hebrew Abba has been adopted as “daddy”. It fits when I’m pouting to God like a child and when I’m calling out to Him in worship. I love languages. I love the beauty in the nuances and history of a word. All this comes together to makes Abba fit perfectly for me.
Once I started to call God “Abba”, certain verses began to jump out and I began to see them with a new clarity of understanding. One of these was Luke 11:11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?”
If I ask my Dad for something, he won’t give me something that will harm me, especially if I ask for something that is good and reasonable. Sometimes his answer might be “no”, but I know that He sees more than I can. This is the very same with God. He cares about the big things and the little things in our lives because He cares for us. For example, I had asked God for other Canadians to be on my squad. It wasn’t a big deal, but I thought it would be nice to have someone to share bits of home with while I’m gone. I didn’t really care too too much either way, but, you know, it’d be nice. Then! Just as the deadline for applying for my squad was swiftly approaching, a gal from not only Canada but a fellow Albertan joined! Nearly as soon as I welcomed her to the squad another gal from Canada joined! Abba truly is good! He loves us, and cares not only about our needs but our desires as well!
Check out the Abba article here!
