The Haverherd

Have you ever wondered why it says “Let us make man in our image” a mere 26 lines into the most read book in all of history?

I often times find myself thinking about this seemingly subtle detail. It doesn’t say “Let me…in my”.

The significance and value of relationship has existed since the beginning of time. And it is just as important today as it has ever been.

When is the last time you stopped everything going on around you and spent a few precious moments with someone you love? Phone turned off, no screens or sounds vying for your attention.

Just you and another person

I find myself sometimes struggling to ask that person how they are (really) doing. Listening to their answers without a thought or concern about what may be coming up next on my calendar. Are we asking the follow up questions that bring one, or both, of us to give up on the fight to hold back tears?

I believe a big part of what we’ve been doing over these past 14 months, while driving around in a tiny house on wheels, is trying to practice the long lost art of relationship.

I have recently been reminded of the need for and power of relationship by two individuals who have left everything behind from their lives in the US.

Eight years ago, Will courageously uprooted his life as he and his wife moved to the far reaches of the globe to care for those in need. The exact geography of where Will’s family has resided doesn’t really matter, doing their first year of marriage in a Mozambican hut, birthing their first son in the Philippines, or their 2nd in the Dominican Republic. What matters is that there has always been one constant throughout their journey.

Relationship.

The way that he and Tara do life with those around them is an inspiration. There is something beautiful about the simplicity of breaking bread and looking at the person across the table from you, asking the tough questions and truly listening to how another human being is doing. It is something I believe we all have gotten away from in the action packed string of days that we call ‘life’.

The past four years challenged Adam and his family to leave it all behind and relocate to Costa Rica. His elaborate strategy to serve consists of the following:

See a need, and meet it.

Walking with local Ticos to pick up a bag of groceries, repairing a roof, or giving a backpack to a kid in need has always been a pathway to open up a conversation. And from there, relationship.

Now the focus on doing relationship has nothing to do with where Will or Adam live. Nor the title that people have assigned to them of being “missionaries”.

It has everything to do the intentional choices they are making each day to invest in the human beings in their midst.

I am sometimes saddened when I see a person at the airport who is flying across the country to a funeral. I realize the importance of community during these times and that grieving with others is critical.

But what if we purchase that flight now? What if, for no reason at all, we travel distance to be with a loved one. For the simple reason of doing life with them.

We only get one chance at this merry-go-round called life. Live it to the brim with those you love.