It was a Sunday evening, and our team had just met for last
time before we departed for Roatan. I was so excited; it was my first missions
trip! I had just graduated high school a few weeks before at age 17. I was
sitting in the sanctuary of the Lord’s House of Prayer watching some girls practice
a dance for the trip. Someone behind me said…
“So…Bethany…you graduated from Octorara this year?”
I turned around to a guy I had never met before. He was wearing
a Coatesville baseball shirt, so I cleverly replied…
“Yeah, I did. Did you graduate from Coatesville this year?”
“No, I graduated from Solanco…and I graduated in 2000. I
just got this shirt at Goodwill.”
That was June 29, 2003. It was ten years ago today that I
met Todd. We didn’t know it that night, but God had just penned the first lines
of our love story.
I think there is something incredibly special about this
trip, and I think a part of it is that the foundations for it were laid 10
years ago. For your son, daughter, sister, brother, friend (whoever you read
this blog for), this trip probably started a few months or years ago, but God
had this in mind for them long before that. When I said yes to following Jesus,
I had no idea where He would take me or what He would do in or through my life.
I can truly say, I cannot imagine living out a story that I could have enjoyed
more than the one I live now.
Graduating high school 10 years ago and meeting Todd 10
years ago have caused me to spend a lot of time reflecting over what the last
10 years of my life have been like. If anyone had described this life to me
when I was 17, I wouldn’t have believed them – in part because it wasn’t what I
was planning, and in part because this life is crazy!
One of the young people on our team described making the
decision to follow Jesus like deciding to go sky-diving. You really want to
jump out of the plane, but it is terrifying and you have no idea what will
happen because you’ve never jumped before. I know that one day (hopefully a
long time from now), my parachute will open and my feet will land firmly on
heavenly ground. In the meantime, I am just enjoying the fall with my Savior –
taking in the thrill of falling through the atmosphere and enjoying both the
beautiful and terrifying aspects of it.
Your young people are amazing. Thank you for trusting us
with them on this trip; they are a blessing to us and to the Hondurans! God has
done and is doing so much in all of our hearts – teaching us how to be rooted
in perfect love, to feel His spirit, and to be able to give love to those
around us. I won’t say too much, because I know they will want to share these
things with you personally when they get home.
I just want to leave you with this challenge…
Have you taken the jump yet? Fall into perfect love, and
life will never be the same again!
No comments:
Post a Comment