Investment

It's hard to nail down a "starting point" for the events that have led up to me committing to going on this trip. Was it back in college when I decided to go to Spain for a semester abroad, the primary reason being that it scared the crap out of me? Was it earlier on in life when I realized, no matter which of the 2 billion careers I dreamed of having when I "grew up," that somehow I would weave in an element of fighting injustice (though I may not have labeled it as such at the time)? Maybe it was when I came back from Africa and I just knew my heart was forever changed? I don't know what that "starting point" was...but I can tell you about a significant "turning point," without which I don't think I'd be heading into this new adventure.

Back in April, Children's HopeChest sent two of their staff to The River to have our "launch Sunday" for orphan sponsorship in our "adopted" village in Uganda. Vince Giordano and Brandi McElheny typically come to these launch weekends with a team of a few other staff members and fill up the weekend with hosting parties and making bunches of contacts within the hosting community. In this rare case, the two of them came without other team members. In all our excitement and eagerness to stay connected to our precious village, several of us that went on the trip to Uganda in January jumped at the opportunity to help Vince and Brandi set things up for the launch and to be as involved as we possibly could with the whole weekend. (Imagine a mother of the bride who loooooooved planning her own wedding so much that she can barely contain her excitement about helping plan her daughter's wedding...that's kind of how we were about helping with the launch. :)) Additionally, a handful of us from "Team Uganda" had the opportunity to join Vince and Brandi staying at Gull Lake for the weekend (thanks to a very generous and lovely River family offering their home to us!) The important detail that I want to share with you about this weekend is this: In the 40ish hours that we spent with Vince and Brandi, the two of them invested in each one of us to a degree that I have never seen in such a window of time. They asked us important questions - questions that quickly got to the heart of who we were. They listened. They shared their own hearts unreservedly. We laughed together. We prayed together. We talked about justice, Church, relationships, books. When we said goodbye on Monday morning, it was like leaving dear friends that we'd known for a lifetime. Later that day, I told my mom, "I kind of feel like one day you're going to meet these two [even though they live in Colorado Springs and my parents live in Michigan], because I'm pretty sure that they just became a significant part of my life from here on out."

I am not telling this story to glorify Vince and Brandi (although, for the record, they are two of the coolest people I know). Rather, I want to speak to the value of the investment they made in my life and in the lives of my friends who spent that weekend with them. It would have been easy for these two to come into town for the weekend, enjoy the lake, get the "job" done, and leave all of us as the strangers we were to them before they came. After all, they live 1200 miles away from us. Our lives are all full. They didn't need to make new friends. They had no obligation to us whatsoever. In fact, had they just come and kept interactions at a relatively surface level, I'm sure we wouldn't have given it a second thought. But because of the investment they made in each of us, we're all still talking about that weekend...and we all consider these two to be dear friends. And because their investment didn't end with that weekend in April, I am going to India on a trip that will surely have a lasting impact on the rest of my life (and prayerfully the lives of many others). What a rich profit! Just because they made the choice to be fully present for 40 hours of fellowship, turning strangers into loved ones.

I cannot begin to count the number of times I have forfeited the opportunity to make a lasting impact on someone's life because of my laziness or complacency...or maybe just because I completely underestimate the potential for deep and lasting impact through what may seem to me like a fleeting moment in time. My heart grieves these missed opportunities....and I'm inspired to make them fewer and further between.

For two weeks, I'll be surrounded by people who, as of today, are either total strangers or practically strangers (with the exception of Vince, who will be on this trip). I have a choice to make. I want to choose investment...to be fully present with each person I interact with, to know them as well as I can in the time we have together, and prayerfully, to make an impact that reaps a sweet, rich profit.