lifeasmission

An Impactful Transition

September 14, 2005

The last 24 hours have yielded an incredible sequence of events. It started when I had the chance to be a part of a tri-church worship event which included by buddy Sean leading the worship music and my friend Jason preaching. I commented to several people that I had forgotten how very gifted they both are at what they do and I was enormously blessed by the way in which they ministered to those who gathered and me personally. Thanks guys for being so faithful to the God who has called you and to the gifts he has given you!

Present at the gathering were several of my former senior high students who I had the chance to say a tearful and tough good-bye to. Following the worship gathering I was able to spend some time with my friends Jason and Suzi, Jay and Wendy, and Sarah at Taggarts. It would be a great understatement to say this time held sentimental value. Taggarts has been the location of many memories, conversations, and fun times. That I got to go there with close friends the night before I left town was no small detail.

After Taggarts I was able to hold tradition by going to Bocassios for 25 cent wings with Sean, Babs, Adam, Eric, and Ryan. As per our custom they enjoyed a few cigarettes and beers while I enjoyed diet Pepsi and second hand smoke. The place is a hole, the atmosphere is lousy, the clientele is shady, the music is loud, obnoxious, and basically vulgar, but the time is priceless (sorry for the close resemblance to the Master Card commercials).

By the time I got home it was almost 1 so rather than tease myself with 2 hours of sleep I decided to squeeze in a few last episodes of Alias. This passed time till 3 when I packed up and Jason drove me up to Cleveland to catch my plane. The trip up with Jason provided two important things. First, it reinforced my opinion that Jason is one of the best friends a guy can have and second, he and I got to share our mutual dismay, concern, and great sadness over several students we know struggling with some major issues and the even more important concern of the lack of godly men and women who have stepped forward to walk through life with them. Consider this a plea to you, whoever you are, to use the life God has given you to invest in the lives of others. You will know of no greater reward in life that to allow God to work through you, in all your frailty and imperfections, to touch others with a love, expressed in word and deed, that defies both human capacity and explanation.

I flew from Cleveland to Chicago to Portland to Boise. As I write this I am sitting in the large, beautiful dining room of a house not all too short of a mansion which, for the next 6 days, belongs solely to me. I walked in to a plate of cookies baked especially for me and a letter from people I have never met before in my life letting me know how to get in touch with them in case there is anything I need. I drove here is a car that someone gave me for the next six days. I am here to spend some time with a group of people who consider themselves a missional community and, as the previous sentences should prove, emphasize hospitality.

In terms of my transition from a summer home to another year at Fuller, this has indeed been an incredible 24 hours and I am so excited to see what the next week holds. I’ll keep you posted.

Posted in: friends, random, stories