One word.
5 little letters.
A gateway to unlimited possibilities with countless potential.
Hello.
You never know where the word will lead, but it has the capability to take you to places you may have never thought you’d reach.
The scenarios you enter into, the relationships you may begin, and the lives you may change (or better yet, may change YOU).
Every story must have a beginning, and that beginning usually comes in the form of a greeting.
In this case:
Hello.
I want to reflect on a few significant “hello” moments that have been either transformative, life altering, or immensely memorable.
Before the race, I’ve already had a solid grasp on how much weight this word truly holds.
I’ll preface in this way:
I love working in a secular environment. For instance, back in my college days, I worked at one of the largest malls in America at a Zumiez, selling shoes, clothes, and other skate culture apparel. The first thing we were ever taught at the shop was our greeting.
The greeting is everything!
Hello.
From here on out, the game plan was to sell products of course. But we are encouraged to add our own unique flavor to how we did our job.
My way of doing things?
Befriend every person and find some sort of common ground with them.
My goal besides selling products was to tell as many of my customers about Jesus which would always get brought up due to my tattoos.
Get a “hello” out there, make a new friend, sell some shoes, and maybe even squeeze JC in there too. Quite a good gig.
Little did I know, one fateful day, one person who would come into my store, who I greeted my typical way (and had shot down my sales pitch big time!) would years later become one of my closest friends I’ve ever had. Someone, I know Jesus sent to my store that night, who would become the friend I needed, who would remind me the reality of who I was, and (unbeknownst to her at the time) would walk me out of a darkness of depression I was in and bring me back into the light.
This valued friendship of mine began by opening my mouth and saying the word…
Hello.
This word has had a special place here in Zimbabwe this month as well.
Our team is the “Unsung Heroes” team. Our goal has been to meet with various potential ministries to see if they could be possible future contacts for Adventures in Missions. Many “hellos” went out during this period BUT there is something significant about each one.
Let me paint the picture.
Another team said “hello” to a local man who ran a super rad coffee shop in town. As they told him what we were all about, he give them the name of another man who may be a possible lead for us.
They delivered the man’s contact info to us which led us to say “hello” to our new friend Dennis.
This “hello” was also being led to yet ANOTHER person we should meet!
So then we made one more “hello” to, now, the infamous Chris and Norma Ferguson!
Eventually, we would meet every person who had a hand in this super God-directed connection. Each time we would follow a lead, it kept leading to such interesting places, ultimately to this crazy cool older fellow named Chris.
We would later travel out to the middle of nowhere to this couple’s camp and spend two amazing days with them. They reminded us why we do what we do. This couple (married for over 40 years!), were such amazing examples of humility, servant hood, and love for all those around them: serving the community, helping local farms, and helping numerous local schools. They had such a brilliant plan of what they desired to do for their community in the bush of Africa and it makes my heart super pumped just thinking about their objectives. And they’re doing it all for the furthering of the Kingdom of God!
You never know the direction one simple “hello” will lead you! In this case, some crazy rad folks in the middle of the bush in Africa!
The last “hello” I want to mention briefly is from our time in Malawi.
I would say “hello” to every one of our vendor friends on the way down the mountain, into the village every day during our time in Nkhata Bay. Bridge was the name of one particular vendor who reminded me of what helped lead me to Christ in the first place.
Before I gave my heart to the Lord, I had such trouble finding out where I fit. I felt over-looked and didn’t really have an identity at the youth group I went to in middle school because it had so many people in it. Few people actually knew my name there for a while.
Another friend invited me to a small group at his church. These youth leaders would remember my name and remind me that I was able to be seen.
I was noticed.
They knew my name.
This simple thing meant the world to me.
After I first met Bridge, I would see him inside his shop as I passed by.
“Hello Bridge!”
I would always yell for him every time I saw him whether walking by or driving by in our pick up truck. Other times I’d run up and talk with him or give him a hand shake.
These were the simplest of actions.
One day, we decided to pick up just a few bracelets from him and he said he wanted to give me an extra one!
“You really wanna just give me one? Why’s that?”
And I’ll never forget his response:
“Because you always say hello and you remember my name”
My life flashed before my eyes (my middle school life at least haha) and I felt an immediate, reciprocated, kindred spirit feeling with my friend, Bridge.
It truly blew me away on our last day, I went to say goodbye to Bridge. His eyes got big, full of surprise and a slight sadness. He quickly rushed me back into his shop and said “Take whatever you like!”
What?!
He proceeded to offer me, free of charge, anything in his entire shop!
Again, I asked why and reassured him I didn’t need anything else, just something simple to always remember our friendship. He reminded me:
“You always see me. You always say hello. And you remember my name”
We don’t realize how big of an impact we make on someone’s life by the simplest of acts such as saying:
Hello.
One hello can open the door to lifelong friendships.
One hello may remind someone that they are not forgotten: they are seen and they are important.
One hello may lead to many others, but will find its’ ultimate goal. And that goal, my friend, is worth all the greetings in the world.
Go say hello to someone new today.
