Arrived Safely in California

I am not really sure how to summarize the past 325 days of this world journey. I will attempt to do so as we are on our 24th airplane ride, seats moving through the sky at a five-hundred miles an hour, and somewhere over Peru. I will try to let my mind make the short but difficult connection to the heart. I hope to link words to the culmination of feelings connected to the year’s experiences.

Here is what rises up: First, Mariella and I have a deep gratitude to the people who loved us unreservedly. Thank you for showing us what God is like. We’ve found that the love in the well of the One who called himself the “Living Water” still runs deeper, and He wants to give a drink to those who are thirsty. I am also amazed at the satisfaction of having a greater depth of intimacy with my wife whom I love even more than I could ever imagine. I am excited to see what that love will be like in five, ten and twenty year’s time. We found that there is great joy in cultivating a life that is fully alive, but for this to happen we usually have to lose, let die, or sacrifice. We are amazed by the power and the closeness of the Holy Spirit who has transformed and continues to transform our hearts. Mariella and I recognize that there is much pain and suffering in the world, we don’t like it and we long for a world without it. We are even more seized by the power of the great affection that suffered. Jesus woos us with the same love that laid down His life so that we may live. We’ve experienced God’s providence when we were fearful and uncertain about what was going to happen next.

We feel like one lifetime is not enough and wish we could have more time. Paradoxically we desire to keep living, but yet long to go Home.

The journey continues…