My dear friend Sean is looking for ways to complete his funding for the Word Race. I offered to let him guest blog for me. I did not expect what he wrote. I hope you will read it and see his heart and the heart he has for Christ.
Then, watch the video at the end. It should make you laugh. It is a great example of our fun, strange, Jesus-loving, chess-playing, iron sharpening iron relationship.
Finally, pray about if you should donate. If you feel led go to seanfalconer.theworldrace.org to give.
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We talk in the church a lot about what it means to be a “Proverbs 31” woman, and although Megan will probably be embarrassed by my saying so, I see those traits exemplified in her. She is also a woman of humility. I can get around that though, because on this one, the Bible agrees with me. Proverbs 31:31 says, “Celebrate all she has achieved. Let all her accomplishments publicly praise her.” She has been Jesus with skin on to me and to anyone around her. She takes none of our excuses, pushes us onward, and calls us higher, and she does it with love. What the body of Christ is supposed to be, she is, and she would be the first one to tell you that her journey is nowhere near over, because it never is. To me, those things are admirable and praiseworthy.
I will say unabashedly that Megan is one of my dearest friends. More than that, she has truly become my sister. When I met her, all I knew was that she was this person who seemed kind of nice, and I was excited to meet her in person. The first day we met, my exuberance scared her to death. I’m like that when I’m nervous. It is not in my model to trust people quickly, nor, I think, is it hers. However, God knew what He was doing, and we’ve came fast friends.
In the weeks between training camp and launch, we talked a lot, and Skype calls with Megan and a handful of our squadmates watching a movie together online were normal. The poor woman once spent 10 minutes staring at my ceiling fan while I pulled a pizza out of the oven. The girl is dedicated.
There’s a beautiful moment in one of my favorite movies, “Morning Glory,” where Harrison Ford’s character recounts his mis-spent life neglecting his family and personal relationships. He details the downward spiral that caused him to find himself with nothing. Then he looks at Rachel McAdams and says, “And that’s what I had, until you came along.”
This week I experienced what some call “a breakthrough.” I call it “completely melting down in anguish.” I fight hard to never visit those places inside me, and I certainly don’t bring company when I do. For the first time, I had company. Megan is a woman of deep faith. She is faithful first and foremost to Jesus and representing Him authentically, and she loves hard. She loves His word, and she wants others to love it too. The race is hard for each of us in our own unique ways, and we have walked through those hard spaces together. God is gracious enough and loving enough to have sent me Megan and other friends like her to brave the tempest in my soul with me, and point me back to God when I try to do it myself. She has seen me at my worst, called me friend, and loved me in spite of it.
It’s not just me though; it is a regular occurrence to hear stories of Megan being available to others on the squad. I love to hear her tell stories of ministry; I get to hear accounts of the internal dialogue with God that precipitates what she does. It’s wonderful, and I love how open she is about wrangling with life and obedience to the voice of the Lord. She tells the difficult stories of her life to people who need to hear it, not because she is so keen to do so, but because she feels God telling her to. She bares her heart to us in all its beauty and ugliness, and hopes that we see the beauty of Christ in the joys and pains she is living through. In those seemingly small but mighty ways, she dies to her self for others, and it’s amazing to see in action. She brings depth to a world sorely in need of it.
I hold no illusions; my friend is not perfect. I don’t expect her to be, and thank heavens, she doesn’t expect me to be. God, however, is at work in her and through her, encouraging, uplifting, supporting, teaching, and loving people. And petting every cat that wanders by.
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And now the video…
