Mr.&Mrs.,
Phil and Jess,
My brother and new sister. I don’t even know how to describe to you both how I see you.
I feel like usually there is one theme to what I learn each month, and this month it revolved around your wedding and coming home.
Home? When I thought about going home, I felt ok… So off I went. I left the race, where I have been out in the world the past 8 months, experiencing different cultures, people, foods, religions, dangers, extremes, and went back to… comfortability.
I was home for 4 days. I was back in the States for 4 days.
And through Phil and Jess’s wedding, the Lord showed me lots.
Yes, I know, weddings. Love, marriage, epiphanies, how can you not learn something? But I didn’t learn what I learned last May at my friends Brooka and Adam’s wedding.
I learned about grace. I learned about mercy. I learned about selflessness. I learned about loving people well when we don’t deserve it at all.
You see, this day was yours. Your day to get the attention, to get the love, your day to focus on just the two of you.
But the sad part of your day was people wouldn’t let it be your day. But you were ok with that, because you knew it wasn’t your day at all.
I’m not here to diss on others or to point fingers, but with the waves of complaints and negativity on such a beautiful day, I was amazed by both of you.
So I have to tell you both, and everyone else all that I see in you both, and all that I saw in that day in your commitment of marriage, the day that you handed it all over to the Lord.
I’ve always looked at oversees missionaries and admired them, for leaving home, leaving all of their loved ones, whatever else, but after 4 days of being home, frankly I was ready to get the heck out of there. Leaving didn’t seem like such a sacrifice.
I have come back to the race after being home and get asked the question of how being home was. Hard. Then I go into what was good. And I begin raving about you two.
The two I am so honored to call family.
Because in a time when things were supposed to be all about you, you saw the bigger picture and chose to reflect that.
You reflected the gospel. Christ shone through you guys because that’s what you made that day about.
I saw you extend such grace to people, I saw you love people so well and be so patient with people.
You both left for 10 days on your honeymoon and then are coming back, not leaving, not saying goodbye, going right back to continue to love people. And I’ve realized then how much of your ministry that is and how well you are living that out. You both are on the front lines.
And as I think about coming home in 3 months, and how impossibly hard that seems, I want nothing more than to walk into it like you two do. Loving people, showing patience, and extending grace.
So as much as I’ve looked up to oversees missionaries here, I want to give you both a round of applause. Thank you for showing me it’s about where the Lord has you. Thank you for being so much for this world.
And I am so excited knowing I have you two to come back to when I come home.
THANK YOU for living your lives as examples for the Kingdom, everyday, even days one may think should be a bit more selfish, you both realized it’s so much more than that.
I love you both.
