Sometimes you just get chill bumps. Tuesday just before lunch two US Army Blackhawk helicopters took off from the Utila airport taking some new friends with them. As I finished waving goodbye and began to think about what an incredibly nice and hospitable group I had met, I was overwhelmed with warm and fuzzy feelings. These were quickly blown off the face of the earth by a deafening roar of rotor blades as the birds seemingly leaped off the ground and into the sky. The power and decisiveness was truly stunning. Yes, I did walk away with chill bumps; partially due to the awesome force of the choppers, and partially due to the magnitude of character contained in them.
Guys and Gals, this blog is for you. It’s to say ‘Thank you.’ When we set off through Nicaragua and Honduras, we prayed God would set our paths for us and introduce us to just the right people. Without a doubt, you are those people. As we’ve traveled the world, we often find that as much as we go somewhere and try to serve or minister to the people we meet, we are so much more served and blessed by them. You are no exception. How much did we learn from each other? I can barely start the list. How amazing was it to see that, although we have so many things different between us, we have such strong similarities for family, service and belonging to something greater?
Van, Sheldon, Dustin, Emile, Corey, Dave, Craig, Joe, Rob, Rachel, Vijay and the rest of you aviators and medics and psychologists that I’ve misspelled or skipped… Thank you for a cookout like no other. Thank you for the lessons in avoiding nasty spiked sea creatures. Thank you for belly flops of glory. Thank you for giving a Christian a lesson in hospitality and fellowship. Thank you for the conversations; I know none of us walked away empty handed. Thanks for stretching our beliefs and not being close minded, but rather, curious. Thanks for having fun with us. Thank you for serving your country. I thank every single person in any military branch, serving at home or abroad with utmost sincerity. Thanks for the fly-by. It’s probably the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me.
A prayer: God, thank you. Thank you for your Son, your grace and mercy and your love. Thank you for a great weekend with a group of incredibly diverse people… surfers, musicians, intelligence agents, pilots, backpackers, technicians, divers, missionaries, environmentalists, goof balls… from no less that 4 different countries. Just thanks. I love you. Amen.
