I'll be on a plane to Israel by the end
of the week.
It's shocking, I know.
My plan is to travel the world. My
plan is to spend my Julys in India, Thailand, Mexico, The Congo, and
Pakistan.
Israel: the Sequel was never
part of my plan.
I've only ever felt a pull to return to
one place that i've ever spent a July. It wasn't Israel.
This wasn't in my grand design.
It just kind of happened.
It happened on a Sunday in December. It
happened through a series of emails between Summer, Dr. Corbitt, and
myself.
It happened. And I'm going back to
Israel.
For the past six months i've been
reflecting on what happened, how it happened, and why it happened.
I have only one answer –
Relationships.
I'm going back to Israel because of
relationships.
BuildaBridge is going to Israel because
of relationships.
I take a sense of joy in that. I take
a sense of joy in knowing that my summer of 2013 mattered to more
than just me. I take a sense of joy in knowing that BuildaBridge has
enough trust in me to come along.
I take a sense of joy in feeling that
my life is about what I want my life to be about.
Relationships.
I want my life to be about people.
About loving them. About serving them.
Relationships matter to me.
Relationships define my life. I can
look at my life and point to specific people and know that their
relationships with me have formed me into who I am. Their
influences on me have made me love more deeply, live more graciously,
order my life more purely, see more clearly, and give more
generously.
I have been influenced by a handful of
people and it has shaped me in a way that will echo until the end of
my days.
I want to reverb that echo into every
person that I have the privilege of knowing.
I feel a deep sense of connection to
people, whether I want to feel it or not. It's a connection that can
never be broken. Ever.
It's a connection that comes with a
responsibility that I take seriously. Regardless of how I feel
about you, I am connected to you. Regardless of how you feel about
me, I value your relationship.
It doesn't look the same in
every situation, but it does guide every interaction.
Sometimes it looks like being a good
listener. Sometimes it looks like a card in the mail. Sometimes it
looks like meeting a need without being asked. Sometimes it looks
like saying, “I'm sorry.” Sometimes it looks like a text,
although very rarely a phone call. Sometimes it looks like not
harboring bitterness in my heart. Sometimes it looks like speaking
up. Sometimes it looks like being silent. Sometimes it looks like
healthy confrontation. Sometimes it looks like active peacemaking.
It always looks like making jokes at inappropriate times. Sometimes
it looks like looking for the lonely person and sitting next to them.
Sometimes it looks disagreeing respectfully. Sometimes it looks
like eye contact in a crowded room. Sometimes it looks like saying,
“Thank you.”
Most of the time it looks like being
fully present.
My hope is that, if you know me, you know that I will put you first, that I will serve you, and that I will love you.
My hope is that my life will be judged
by how well I loved the people in it, by how I lived those three
principles, by my relationships.
Going back to Israel gives me a sense
that it all matters. That it's not in my head. That it's not in
vain.
That relationships matter.
I'll pour myself out for that.
I'll let my life be judged by that.
Day after day, week after week, July
after July.