If you get a chance take a look at this picture and you will honestly see some of the most amazing people I have ever known. I could write a blog post about every single one of them. This picture is a few years old now but it’s from the St Jude Race in Memphis, TN that we volunteer at every December. It’s a fun event that really benefits a tremendous organization and I would like to say that we go every year just for that but honestly most of the people pictured here would have done just about anything that day if it meant we got to be together. This is by no means everyone that I wish was in this picture but it represents all those young men and women we have had the privilege to share our lives with. In less than a month we will head off to the other side of the world and begin building a new group a new family. However that doesn’t change anything about how special these people are. In fact we are hoping some of these people will become part of the new family and join us in Africa.
I look at this picture and can’t help but smile and honestly thank God that he put so many amazing people in my life. As I’m typing this I’m reminded of story after story I shared with these people, the trust they put in me and the trust I was able to put in them. I met so many of them when they were young some even as campers and then as they got older I was able to turn camp over to them. There are people in this picture that have masters degrees, there is a United States Marine and a young man in the Army. There are several who go to incredibly prestigious universities and two college athletes, truly an amazing gathering of people. I have had so much joy watching them grow up, I have also had some pain at having to watch them make poor choices that led to at times terrible consequences, but I still love them all the same.
I hope you have people like this in your life. People younger than you that you are pouring into, people that remind you that you have to be right with God because they are counting on you. Young men and women who may impact the world in ways you never could but are better people because of the investment you made in them. People you have prayed with and prayed over, people you have cried with and laughed with and shared food with. What is the meaning of life after all? I’ll tell you it’s not hard. Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and body and let that love be alive in you so you can love others the same way. I’m proud of the work we have done here and I am excited about our new calling but mostly I’m glad to know that I know a Savior who loves me.
Brett and Bronwyn 