We all love a good ending.
I know I do. We all love to read a book and close the pages feeling some sort of completion. We all love to sit in the movies and feel a sense of closure having seen the story unfold. That’s where I am. I’m at the end.
In 2016, I submitted my application for a trip called the World Race. I had no idea what my life would look like in 3 years. I wasn’t thinking that far ahead. The only thing I could do at the time was listen to what my heart was saying. I knew in my bones that I was called to a road that I had never walked down, into sun filled valleys and onto rocky and snow covered mountains.
There is a crucial part of the journey that is so bittersweet. That’s the last leg of the journey. With remembrance of what something was, sadness and gladness for the ending of something…and it all leads to anticipation.
I sat on my porch in little Mijas Spain last night, and I watched the planes come in around the mountains to land in Malaga. It brought me to a place of remembrance and thankfulness for the past few years. I laugh at the amount of one way planes I’ve boarded. The stories, injuries, healings, laughter, and joy that followed those plane rides; they’re the stories that helped shape the man that I am today. It’s been 3 years, 15 countries, hundreds of hours in the air, weeks of travel…and it all leads to this. The end. The closing of a book.
But in any good series, there is always another story to be told. And in my life, all of my good stories come on the other end of a one way ticket. It’s poetic really, the idea that there is no plan B, and there is nothing ahead except what already lies there.
And here I am. I’m at the end. In a month, I’ll be stateside. With no intention of heading back out for an extended period of time. At least for the time being. I’m moving to Washington D.C to plant a missional community / house church. I’m looking to get into nonprofit work to fight economic poverty in the nation’s capital. We’ll see how that goes. And beyond that, don’t know much. Yeah; I’m working everyday to lay good foundations and make plans, I’m taking it seriously.
But this morning, I couldn’t help but laugh. Because the truth is, I have absolutely no idea what lies ahead. I’d like to tell you that I can see an outline or a vague shape. But, truth is, I have next to no idea.
That being said, here are a few things that I know. I know who I am. I know my purpose. I know my identity and what drives me. I know that on the other side of this next one way ticket, comes the adventure of a lifetime. Home. Who would have thought?
I know that hard times are ahead. I know that pain and suffering and waiting around the corner. But I know that I know that for the joy set before me, it’s worth it. To see people in the nation’s capital come alive to the trans-formative and sacrificial love of Christ? That’s worth it. To see young boys turn into men, to love the community I’m moving with, to love my friends and family well; that makes anything worth it. I know what is to have plenty, and I know what it is to have little. I know this for certain. I am called to do all things laid before me because of the love that has been shown to me. I’m past please and into ‘thank you’. The Love of the Father has never left me or failed me. And on many dark and stormy nights of the soul, love found me so I could find refuge in it. That’s what I want to be for others. That’s who I am.
Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.
This journey is moving one way. Like those one way tickets I keep buying. Onward.
So here’s to the next plane, the next random meeting, the next wild and crazy adventure in real life. Here’s to the people who will encounter the love of Christ through me. Here’s to the next chapter. Here’s to the ending of a long running story in my life, and the beginning of something completely new. Here’s to one last one way ticket.
This will probably be my last blog on this site. I’ll let everyone know when the new blog is up and running.
Until then, I have about two weeks to raise $1200. If you want to help me buy that last one way ticket, you can venmo me at rockyblue7, or paypal me at [email protected]
