Guess blog from sissy! She wrote a letter to all of us as we leave the race
To 11 month racer….from home:
Dear Racer
Its hard to believe its already the end of month 11, the final month of your journey. This year has, at times flown by, and at times dragged on so slowly we thought month 11 would never come. As you prepare to re-enter and come home, home is also preparing for your return. We appreciate and respect that you have done and seen things this year that have forever changed you. You have seen the darkness of the world but brought the light of the Lord to that darkness. We know that you have been brought to your own brokenness and we are thankful that you were surrounded by the love of you team and squad when that brokenness hit hard. We know you have learned to lean on the Lord and your new family community. We appreciate and respect that you have changed, we know its a good change. We know you have felt the heart break of things that have broken the heart of Jesus. You have been His hands and feet without hesitation. We are so filled with joy and thankfulness that this year has taken you places and changed your hearts and your views of this world. We can’t wait to hug your necks and kiss your faces. We won’t mind the smell or dirt, we are ready and we know you are ready.
We also know this is going to be hard for you. We know there will be tears, sadness, longing for what’s missing. We have read blog after blog to try to best figure out how to welcome you home, without overwhelming you with home. We are trying to know what you need.
As we struggle with what it looks like to give space and grace, and as we struggle to know what it looks like for you to be home again, here is what we are going through back in the states:
As you have been on an incredible life changing journey, so have we. We have each learned to walk newly with the Lord, going deeper than ever before. Learning to truly come to trust the Lord without borders. We have learned how to go to our knees and give all our doubts an fears to our Father in heaven. We have learned how to pray with purpose and heart. We have prayed together, cried together, laughed together, shared stories together and learned to do life together while missing you. We have supported each other through the darkest, scariest times while you were away. In a sense we have learned to rely on each other. No one else in our lives back home know what its like to be a World Race parent except other World Race parents. We have texted, messaged and called one another at all times of the day and night, when everyone on the team and squad has checked in except our own racer. We have complained and cried to each other and lifted each other up and been a support system like we’ve never known. We have learned to lean on the Lord and go first to him, we have learned to be still and know He is God and listen to his voice an obey His commands. All of this to help us cope with missing you so bad at times that it physically hurt. But God got you through and He got us through and we have all come out stronger warriors and stronger in our faith.
When God called you to go on a Kingdom Journey, He also called us. When you said yes, we said yes. We learned from you. Your blogs and social media posts have taken us deep with you, touched our hearts and souls. But coming home is hard for us too. Its a lot of unknown. We want to hug you and never let go, we want to shower you with attention and affection, we want to make your favorite foods and buy your favorite luxury items you have been without. But is it too much, do you still want what you use to love? will spoiling you offend you? After seeing the poverty you have seen will this be too much. But what if we do nothing and try and respect the new you? Will you feel unloved or will you feel like we didn’t miss you enough to make an effort? As we prepare for your homecoming and try with all our might to give you space and grace, please give us some grace as well. We are new to this too, we are on the other side of the world wanting to know what you need. Drop us a note or give us a call and let us know, or if you don’t know, its ok too. tell us that.
Love us and give us grace, because we are going to mess up, we are going to say the wrong things and do the wrong things, but we don’t mean to. We love you and we have missed you in ways we can’t even explain. We have said good night to your empty room for 320 days. We have celebrated holidays and birthdays without you. but put on a happy face for the rest of the family. We have sat and cried silent tears on the inside or sometimes gone to the bathroom and just broke down where no one would see.
We can’t wait for you to come home, but we don’t want to overwhelm you. We will try our best, please be patient with us and we will be patient with you.
See you soon!! We love you!
Love,
Chuck and Sissy
