It’s crowded in the section of my plane, today. As I slip into my seat I try to fade
into the faces. The people around
me, the conversations that are occurring, it’s just not the same.
“Am I still apart of
the life that I left for a few days? “
I am a traveler far away from home. I shed my backpack and quietly sink
myself into a lobby seat of the airport.
The peace of fifty plus known faces has escaped my grasp. And now is replaced by the weight of
glances I have never witnessed.
How much of a chance do I have?
“Am I still apart of
the life that I left for a few days? “
I
had been running miles in the wrong direction. My thoughts jumble in my head as I consider this adventure. Does anybody hear me, can anybody see or
does anybody know why my hope is missing?
No
they probably don’t know. And no
they probably don’t care. But I am
still a part of the body. Just
because I have live
d the last five months with fifty people and experienced
some things that have transformed my life. So has everyone else on the squad it just looks different. These feelings of heartache and
concerns allowed heartbreak and fear creep into my mind as I sat in that chair
in the airport. As I went through
the experience of traveling home and getting a quick glimpse of what its like
to be back in America I have continued to process and I realize that I wouldn’t
change those heartbreaking feelings or change those dark words because despite
them or possibly because of them I found unity. I found community.
Just because I had distressing feeling doesn’t mean I was not unified
with my family on one side of the world and my other family on the other side
of the world. The Lord gave me
grace. He showed me I was still
apart of the body in many ways:
Because…
“the unity and Body
of Christ is found in me and in you”
-A family from Norway that were
missionaries in Tanzania encouraged me in what I have been a apart of.
-A woman that sat next to me on my plane ride home that just wanted to listen
and let me talk about my life and what it has carried.
-My family that greeted me at the
airport gates with huge smiles and hugs and unconditional love.
– A friend that flew me half way
across the world to be apart of her special day.
-Two young boys that allowed me to
pick up right off where I left off five months ago and showed me love by
playing Wii
-Family and friends that welcomed
me home with open arms and sent me out with prayerful hearts.
This is what the body is. This is what unity is. It’s not a certain person on a
team. It’s not a certain fifty
people. It’s not m
y family at home. It’s not my church family. It’s not the first team that I spent
four months with or my new team that I have only been with one month. It is these experiences that make me a part
of the body. To remind me that I
am apart of the body, no matter where I am, no matter whom I am with because being
unified is everywhere. I am still
a part.
