My dad is an adventure seeker. He loves mountains and bikes. You will find him wearing spandex and a helmet approximately 80% of the time. But it wasn’t always that way. Before I was born my dad raced. He lived to ride. It was a dream God put in His heart.
When my dad was in the midst of raising my brother and I, however, some things had to change. A few sacrifices had to be made. He couldn’t race as often and had to put some dreams on hold.
About a decade ago, my dad picked up his bike again. Unbeknownst to me, my dad had always been itching to race again. He made the sacrifices in love for my family, without complaint. He is now back in the game, and stronger than ever. He is so rad.
All this to say, I’m beginning to get really sentimental (in case you couldn’t tell). I have no reason to leave. My family is the greatest, my friends are total gems and big opportunities keep popping up everywhere. But God said “go” and I can’t turn down His offer. This is a God dream that He put in my heart the moment He dreamt of me. I know that everything will be here when I get back, but it doesn’t make the temporary goodbye any easier.
I find myself in this moment where I love people I haven’t met yet and I picture moments and snapshots of life that I haven’t yet lived. I’m in this moment where I constantly have to remind myself to be fully HERE. My ministry is here and now, not there and then. I’m in this moment where I miss people I haven’t met and I already miss those I don’t have to say goodbye to yet.
I’ve heard someone say that for the missionary, home is everywhere and home is nowhere. If home is where your people are, but you have people everywhere, then where is home? As much as I will miss my people, the goodbye is only temporary. And if I must make the sacrifice of a temporary goodbye in order to see my people from these 11 countries in heaven where everyone will be joined together in one community, the risk is worth it.
I’m ready to say 12 goodbyes for the sake of His Kingdom.
So He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Luke 18:29-30
Life without love is worthless. But love requires sacrifice. Sacrifice is the essence of love. I’ve heard the greatest gift you can give is your time. When you give of your time, it’s a gift you can never get back. 11 months is not long in retrospect, but it’s still a chunk. I am feeling that weight. But a friend once told me, “you’re not sacrificing to lose anything, you’re sacrificing to gain.”
Love means giving up plans, comfort, security, energy and time for the benefit of others. But this is not a sacrifice of loss, this is a sacrifice of eternal gain.
Love leaves a legacy. Love is the only thing that is eternal. It is the greatest gift. Love will outlive us. It will bear fruit we might never get the opportunity to see. I am learning, now more than ever, what true love looks like. The best use of life is love. I long to live this life my Father is teaching me.
True love is sacrificial. Both my Father and my daddy have taught me that.
“Love means living the way God commanded us to live. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is this: Live a life of love.”
2 John 1:6
