Sometimes I wonder why people are so nice.
I know the thought seems absurd, but when you see people doing
extremely nice things, good things, unheard of things for you and for
others, the thought just creeps into the mind.
A couple of weeks ago I witnessed a well-to-do southern woman drop
hundreds of dollars on new, nice clothing-not for herself, her family,
or anyone she’s ever met. But for a group of young Filipino prisoners
she doesn’t even know. One of those being Kikim– my little brother, my
friend, my own little miracle sitting in a Malaybalay jail cell.
As I stood in the middle of an unfamiliar department store in
Gainesville, Georgia, my eyes filled with tears and I thought, “People
who love Jesus are good people.”
Then, when I started getting a little anxious about my support not
coming in and realizing I may not get a paycheck- people I’ve never even
met, people I’ve known for only a few months, and people I’ve known for
years rallied around me and put me $400 over my first support goal. And I thought, “People who love Jesus are good people.”
Then one morning I got a text message from my friend Jodi, who was
planning on heading back to the Philippines as a full time missionary at
the end of this month. It said, “I reached 80 percent of my goal!” Jodi
was to raise ten times the amount I needed to raise in about half the time in order to go back. TEN TIMES.
And she did it in a month. She could buy her plane ticket home-to
Malaybalay, where she’ll live at least for five years,
ministering to those boys in the jail cell. TEN TIMES. IN ONE MONTH. And I thought, “People who love Jesus are good people.”
Then one night last week, those of us from J Squad (one of the groups
who started the World Race in August 2009) gathered around Jodi and
prayed blessing over her. As I heard words of encouragement and prayers
of passion pour out of my friends I thought, “People who love Jesus are good people.”
Over the last few weeks I’ve cried to my friends and family about my
struggles of adjusting to life in an unfamiliar land. And they’ve
listened, they’ve advised, they’ve encouraged. A friend planned a trip
to visit as soon as she could. One week I received an encouraging
letter from my mom assuring me that I was where God wanted me. Then I got a
Starbucks gift card to comfort me, a care package from a friend I’ve
never met, a gift from my favorite middle school teacher, and a gift of
Wallflowers (scented plug ins) that I’d used in my apartments ever since
I started living alone. The note attached said something along the
lines of, “to make your Georgia apartment feel more like home…” And I
thought, “People who love Jesus are good people.”
And sometimes, I look around my still somewhat empty apartment and think of the
awesome deal I had with my best friend back in San Antonio. How she let
me stay with her for months, in her home (with plenty of furniture), as
we did life together. And I think, “People who love Jesus are good people.”
And recently, I’ve sat across the table from other former World
Racers around town. I’ve heard their passion for the work they’ve been
called to do. And as I’ve listened to them tell me that they also want
to see me continue growing and that they will do whatever it takes to do
that, I can’t help but think, “People who love Jesus are good people.”
Now, as I read over everything that’s come out of my fingertips this late Saturday night, I wonder, why are they so good when much of this world is so bad?
And I come to the conclusion that people who love Jesus are good
because Jesus, who is good-so good, is actually the one who’s pouring
out of them.
