So these last couple of days before launch, I had the amazing opportunity to spend some time with my good friend from college, Heather and her husband in the beautiful city of Washington DC. Its crazy how God works things out because he knew this was exactly what I needed. I was absolutely spoiled, going to beautiful monuments, walking around the city, going to a picnic on the water, exploring Georgetown and Alexandria in good company. This trip became a time for me to relax, unwind, reflect and prepare myself for what I will be facing for the next 11 months. But most importantly, I met a person this week that has impacted more than any other part of this trip.
When Heather told me that we were going to hang out with this elderly woman, Lydia, I wasn't too worried. Heather explained to me that she had dementia and that she goes to hang out with her a couple times a week to keep her company. Dementia is a disease where people begin to lose their memory and can not remember things that were just recently said. I knew what dementia was but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. We arrived and after Heather introduced herself (again after hanging out with her for a couple weeks), we headed off to McDonalds for lunch and to fold church bulletins. Over our short 4 or 5 hours together, Lydia and I found out that we had many things in common such as both being from California, both history teachers and both having desires to be missionaries in China. But the thing that struck me the most was her passion for Jesus. Though I had to reminder her of my name about 15 times, she had such a strong passion and love for Jesus. It was inspiring to see how deeply engrained her love for Jesus was. Though we had to repeat our names, where we were from, our jobs and other things, Lydia constantly shared with us her passion for the gospel and the importance of following Jesus and the impacted He made on her life.
After dropping Lydia off, Heather and I started to reflect on our visit and I decided that that was a woman I wanted to live my life like A life where Jesus is so important that I can forget almost everything about my life but I still remember who Jesus Christ is and what he did for me. That in my old age, I am still trying to evangelize and spread the gospel though I can't remember what you ate for breakfast this morning. At Launch, we have been talking a lot about willingness to grow and change and being open to letting God work in and through your life. Through all the lectures, I have found Lydia to be my inspiration. I want to have a passion for the gospel like she does! I want to know Jesus so well that he is engrained into the deepest etches of my brain. I never want my passion to share his love and gospel to ever cease in my life, no matter how old I am!
Lydia, though you don't remember me, I want to thank you for being such an amazing example of a disciple of Christ. Thank you for sharing your love and passion for the gospel and your encouragement to go share it with others. You have impacted my life so much and I am honored to have met and shared life with you for a mere four hours.
