Thursday, July 26, 2012
Walk Alone
It's 6:44 am and I'm sitting in the London airport. I'm sitting here watching a young lady sleep. She hasn't really slept in 3 days. She didn't sleep on the flight and she didn't sleep much the night before we left Nairobi. Yes. I was in Nairobi. I was in Nairobi because my job was not complete. No, not the job of "mission work" or anything related to our work in Kenya. This is related to a promise- a promise I made to a young lady years earlier and reminded her of just a week earlier.
"I'm not done being involved in your life and helping you get to where you're supposed to go. You are still my 'Timothy' and this 'Paul' has been instructed to continue what we started years earlier." I concluded her letter, where this comment was written, by telling her she'll never walk alone. ...
... so I left for Kenya on Tuesday afternoon to go get my friend; my sister. I was not about to let her walk alone through the hell that had just descended upon her life. There was more to come too. More pain and agony awaited her when she arrived back home to the full reality of what had taken place on that same Tuesday morning. No, she wasn't going to walk alone. She wasn't going to have to experience the beginning of this void of her family and friends. And she certainly shouldn't have to start an 8,000 mile journey back by herself. How overwhelming that must have seemed.
She's quiet now. She's finally getting some sleep. She needs it. But she needs the warm embrace of the family that loves her and is desperate to envelope her in their warmth. And I plan to deliver her for that therapy. She's not just some "young lady" or "friend". This is my sister. And a brother would do anything for the sister he loves. There was never any doubt that I'd come to get her.
What she, and her family, needs now is love lived out. She won't require our words as much as she'll require our love which compels us to action. That action can be fervent prayers for this grieving family. It can be service to them by way of a meal, yard work, and a simple embrace. It can also be a resolve to live as their daughter lived: as much like Christ as possible. If I had to compare others, or even myself, in our walk with Christ against her's,.... I'm afraid most of us would come up very short.
So I'm sitting her in London. It's now 7:01 am. She's still sleeping and I'm still typing. And I'm also very very honored to do for Grace what Paige would have done. I'm glad to show her my love, not just tell her. I'm glad she didn't have to walk alone.
When's the last time love compelled you to uncommon action? If you can't remember, how do you know you have love for them? Don't wait to be asked. Don't hesitate to sacrifice. Don't think this is for me. I love gk because I love Christ. And I'd do again tomorrow.
"Truly Truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." - John 12:24
"I'm not done being involved in your life and helping you get to where you're supposed to go. You are still my 'Timothy' and this 'Paul' has been instructed to continue what we started years earlier." I concluded her letter, where this comment was written, by telling her she'll never walk alone. ...
... so I left for Kenya on Tuesday afternoon to go get my friend; my sister. I was not about to let her walk alone through the hell that had just descended upon her life. There was more to come too. More pain and agony awaited her when she arrived back home to the full reality of what had taken place on that same Tuesday morning. No, she wasn't going to walk alone. She wasn't going to have to experience the beginning of this void of her family and friends. And she certainly shouldn't have to start an 8,000 mile journey back by herself. How overwhelming that must have seemed.
She's quiet now. She's finally getting some sleep. She needs it. But she needs the warm embrace of the family that loves her and is desperate to envelope her in their warmth. And I plan to deliver her for that therapy. She's not just some "young lady" or "friend". This is my sister. And a brother would do anything for the sister he loves. There was never any doubt that I'd come to get her.
What she, and her family, needs now is love lived out. She won't require our words as much as she'll require our love which compels us to action. That action can be fervent prayers for this grieving family. It can be service to them by way of a meal, yard work, and a simple embrace. It can also be a resolve to live as their daughter lived: as much like Christ as possible. If I had to compare others, or even myself, in our walk with Christ against her's,.... I'm afraid most of us would come up very short.
So I'm sitting her in London. It's now 7:01 am. She's still sleeping and I'm still typing. And I'm also very very honored to do for Grace what Paige would have done. I'm glad to show her my love, not just tell her. I'm glad she didn't have to walk alone.
When's the last time love compelled you to uncommon action? If you can't remember, how do you know you have love for them? Don't wait to be asked. Don't hesitate to sacrifice. Don't think this is for me. I love gk because I love Christ. And I'd do again tomorrow.
"Truly Truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." - John 12:24
