Can I brag on my sister-in-law for a second? Guys, this girl is amazeballs. I don’t quite know if I’ll be able to adequately explain why I am so in awe of Candice, but I’m going to try. Cause it needs to be said.
First of all, this girl prayed that her husband would want to go to Africa. Her heart was filled with the desire to go to Africa and do something significant for God. But she took one look at her precious 8 month old, and precocious 2 and-a-half-year old and realized, sadly, this wasn’t quite in the cards right now. And instead of resigning herself to her fate, a little resentful of her needy small children and overall tied-down lot in life (as I would have done…) she starts praying that her husband would want to go to Africa and do something significant for God. Because, as she sees it, it’s kind of a two for one deal. They’re a team and if he goes, it’s her adventure too.
And of course, as God works in these ways, a few months later a trip to Africa presents itself. Her husband, unaware of her prayers, thinks maybe he might like to go…on a two-week trip…to Africa…leaving behind his wife and two small children. And instead of saying, “No way are you leaving me alone with two small children for two weeks! No way are you going on the adventure that I dreamed up! NO WAY are you leaving me behind!” (as I would have done…) she excitedly said, “YES! Go! Have fun! Do amazing things for God! We’ll do whatever it takes to get you there. I’m so behind you on this one!”
And then he goes. And instead of pouting and whining and hibernating for two weeks with two small children, feeding them whatever take out she fancies and ordering whatever she wants on amazon.com, because she deserves it (As. I. Would. Have. Done.) she decides to spend the two weeks with her friend Bethany whose husband is also in Africa. So she can help Bethany out. Bethany and her three boys.
While her husband is gone she decides to take her two small children four hours north to her husband’s family farm weekend. By herself. And on the way home from this exhausting weekend where she was a single parent her precocious two-and-a-half-year-old gets sick all over herself. Candice has to pull over on the side of the road, strip her down, clean her up, and get her back in the car, waking the eight month old in the process. And instead of losing her cool when her husband calls from Africa a few minutes after this fiasco, yelling at him for leaving her behind with the aforementioned fiasco which is somehow his fault (AS I WOULD HAVE DONE) she is thankful that he called at that moment instead of a few minutes earlier. Because if he had called when she was cleaning puke, she wouldn’t have been able to talk to him.
Candice is cut from a different cloth. When I was in the hospital having my baby she cleaned my whole house and washed my sheets. When I had to run our church’s VBS Candice came with her then sixteen month old (and sickly first trimester pregnant self) to watch my 8-week-old son for the week. While staying at Bethany’s this week she cleaned her bathroom and weeded her garden. She doesn’t sit down. She is always doing something to help someone. Candice has unlimited patience for her kids. Unlimited patience and sweet, sweet love. She is respectful and patient and loving. When I am telling my kid to knock it off and quit crying like a baby she is calmly and lovingly explaining to hers why it’s not ok to cry when you don’t get your way and that it hurts her ears to hear those cries. In short Candice is amazing. I don’t know very many people like her. She is humble and a true definition of servant hearted. Unfortunately these gifts often go overlooked and underappreciated; it kills me because every time I think of her I’m overwhelmed with gratitude.
Truthfully, Candice is pretty much everything I’m not. I would always rather sit and chat instead of do dishes. Or sit and surf the Internet. Or lie down and nap. I don’t want to clean my own bathroom much less someone else’s. And if what I do is going to go unnoticed or underappreciated…I’m not likely to do it.
One thing I am sort of good at is using encouraging words. So I write this to honor Candice and hopefully make sure she knows that all she does is noticed and appreciated. Cause seriously guys, she’s amazeballs.
