My goodness...I can't believe how quickly these past two weeks have flown by. Sitting on the beach in Belize seemed to last a whole lot longer than these past 12 days! It's not like I've been napping though as Lisa and I have been on the road for many of the days...Let me explain...
As I talked about in an earlier post, we got Matt off to Boston on Monday, the first day of our return. We then spent Tuesday and Wednesday trying to catch up on things as well as helping Chris get ready to go back to school at Middlebury (it's hard to believe that Chris is entering his last semester in college...we're waiting to hear about his MCAT scores as he wants to go to Med School next year). We left very early on Thursday morning (ok...when you're on renewal leave 9:30am can be considered early!! LOL) for VT with a full vehicle and a goal of making it to Middlebury by 4:45 in order to rent a trailer to move some of Chris and Courtney's stuff from Hynesburg (a family member lives there). We got to the U-Haul place around 4:30 (we made a few stops along the way...).
I want to mention that last spring it was Brad at this U-Haul center who saved us when a U-Haul center closer to Burlington didn't have the traveler we ordered and on one of the busiest days for moving in Middlebury Brad was able to rent us just what we needed. Talk about customer service! What's even cooler is that he knew the U-Haul man from Belfast and we exchanged a few stories. As Brad was helping us in our time of need he pointed to a very roughed in area of construction and mentioned how he hoped to be out of the small trailer he had been in for the last few years and be into his new place by the end of the summer. What was even cooler was that when the building was finished, his wife would be opening a candy, stamping, and scrap booking store in the other half of the facility. As we left, I prayed a quiet prayer of success for the entire family.
With that thought in mind, I was very excited to arrive at Brad's place to see the building still in process but his new office opened and his wife's store about to celebrate her grand opening in two days. We quickly got the trailer attached and then went to check out the candy store. For those of you who don't know me, I love sweets!!!! Walking into this store that was still in the process of being organized was like a dream come true. There was a huge display case filled with homemade bon-bons of all flavors - I got to sample one and we quickly bought some to share with folks we'd be visiting. In another case were all kinds of Jelly-Belly jelly beans with amazing flavors. She also had the candy fruits, swedish fish and squirmy worms, bridge mix and then I saw them - Boston Baked Beans! I'd not had them in years and quickly made my appeal to Lisa...She was busy picking out some candy for our nieces and nephew and I didn't even have to shed a tear. As we left, I felt like a kid in a candy store - oops I was! - but I also had reminisced about my childhood and I was grateful that it brought smiles to my face. Laughter, trips to get penny candy, surprise gifts from visiting friends, and so much more. I also gave thanks that Brad and his family had seen their dream realized even though it had not been cheap.
One of the things that I've realized as we drove way is that as I've had the honor of serving God through ministry is that not all people have pleasant memories of their childhood. Adults and other youth have stolen what should be times of love and exploring and replaced them with times of hate, insecurity, pain, and rejection. Many folks are able to find counseling or other ways in which to find healing as they move forward but their past can never be given back. For those people I give thanks that you've either independently or with friends made the journey to where you now can go forward and enjoy each day, or at least most of each one. For those of us who've never lived such a horror, we can't even begin to grasp the victory that these folks have achieved or are working on. As one who has listened to such stories, I am honored to be in the presence of such strong, faith-filled people who despite starting without the love that so many know have come to the point where they can share that love and live it in their lives. How powerful a statement to those of us who have it tough. I've heard more than once these folks say that what had been taken away from them by another would never be lost again.
From another angle, we need to make sure that we fight for those young people in similar situations right now so that their journey of love and acceptance can start much earlier and the damage to be healed can be much less. We've got to focus and offer to each other, especially those who are beaten down or have had their voices silenced, the love, grace, and justice that God calls us to give as we walk humbly with our Lord. (Micah 6:8)
Wow! That went serious real quick. It's not what I intended when I began this writing but it reminds me that in each moment are lessons and calls by God to be disciples through our words, actions, and attitudes. May each of us accept the blessings that God gives to us and see how they can be used to enrich the lives of others with whom we come in contact. What would the world be like if instead of beating people down we lifted them up, if instead of silencing them we gave them permission to speak? I don't mean just in a world-wide plan but in our towns, churches, and homes. Let's give it a try and see what happens...
Talk with you soon. We're getting ready for Turkey today as we've got to be to the airport by 9:30am tomorrow morning. The posts in Turkey should be every other day or so...It's so unreal to think that we'll be walking where Paul walked and shared the good news of Christ with folks who had so many gods to worship that how much of a big deal could one more be. Paul then said there was need for only one, the true God. And all of our journeys have changed as a result!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment