Last year when I got back from travel in a 3rd world country, someone asked me what I wanted to do differently once I was home. I thought for awhile and said,
“I’m not really sure what I want to do differently… I think I just am different.”
I’m not charting an obvious action plan right now of what I think I need to do when I get home in less than a week. Any list I’d craft would honestly seem superficial to me and likely short lived.
But, it doesn’t take long to know that after 48 hours of insane travel to get here and 3 days with my feet stained from the red earth we’ve been traveling… I just am different.
My dear friend Laura Parker shared a story with me about a year and a half ago that I can’t get out of my mind. It’s the first thing on my mind every single day I’m here. I ponder it often at home too.
I want to be defined by it…
A few years ago, she and her husband were missionaries in Southeast Asia working in a girls’ home. Their first year was hard and so they were naturally thrilled when they had a chance to meet with some missionaries who had been in the field in nearby Burma for something like 25 years. Maybe they would be encouraging, offering relief from the reality and hardship of daily life in a foreign country with 3 small children.
So Laura asked the women what had been on her heart…
“What advice would you give to brand new missionaries in the field after all these years?”
The woman hardly paused before turning to Laura to say,
“When we first came here I asked the Lord to give me a list of things I could do for Him. And almost immediately I heard him say the first thing…
‘Love well the person in front of you.’
And 25 years later…He has never given me a #2.”
There is no #2…
There is no #2.
Love well the person in front of you.
Meeting needs.
Playing games.
Holding a hand.
Taking a meal.
Pushing outside of our comfort zone…
Listening closely…
Crying together…
Celebrating…
Love well the person in front of you.
Create jobs.
Provide medical care and education.
Give from our own blessing.
Give of ourselves.
Live free.
I want to love well the person in front of me.
That my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company – Rom 15:32
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” – Gal 5:13-14
Mo | Wynne | Cara | Melissa | Erika | Carey
be sure to follow all the other amazing gals on our trip by clicking this link: #bloghope
*Thank you to Katie Davis and Amazima Ministries for allowing us to see some of the work they are doing and to be a part of how they live every day…loving well the people in front of them.
**Photos by Asher Collie, Wandering with Mary, Erika Riggs, and Wynne Elder
So good Logan!! These pictures are amazing!!
Logan, this is so it. There is no #2. I guess the toughest part for me is how to know who the person is in front of me… on a Saturday afternoon, when kids are watching a movie, is it ok to make the person in front of me the group I’m speaking to in a few weeks? Should I turn off the movie and play LEGOs with the munchkins in my living room? Argh. Motherhood in ministry. Lord, we need your razor-sharp discernment about who you’ve got in “front” of us each moment!
Beautiful. And the cutie girl with the wink while you are getting your hair done, oh my heart!
Oh friend, this gave me the chills and made me cry at the same time.
Simple, but profound. Thank you for sharing this story and your heart. You are different – and the world needs more of individuals like you. Blessings
Amen and amen!!!
(Is it God’s sense of humor that I read this right after I write about seeing faces 1,000’s of miles away? But I suppose sometimes the face in front of you can be 1,000’s of miles away. God’s measure of distance isn’t ours, is it?)
Thank you for this poignant and beautiful post, Logan!
love. this. #fistbump
I want to be that person too. To love well the person in front of me. Geez. I forget that so easily. My family, my neighbors & sometimes it may be the person glaring at me in the mirror.
“Love well the person in front of you.” This is my new motto.
We had a Sole Hope party at The High Calling Retreat last November. To see the photo of those completed shoes just made my heart smile.
There is no #2. I love that. I love the candid picture of the girls brading your hair. Your face is great and all of them just gobbling up your long brown hair…you need to frame it! I am loving these posts, they are speaking to me.
This is absolutely perfect. I love every word. My heart is so touched by the work you all are doing over there. I can’t wait to read more! xoxo
Hi Logan. I am so happy you made it to Uganda. I really liked your words of Break my heart for what breaks yours, Lord… from the other day’s post. So what I needed to hear. As well as your mention of Meshach, Shedrach, and Abindigo (pretty sure I just messed their names up really badly but I’m too tired to look up how they are spelled). Anyways, I just really like your blog and enjoyed reading about the experience in Uganda. My MIL just got diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and I needed the reminder of “even if He doesn’t change this outcome, I will still praise Him”.
Seeing the pictures of all the babies just makes me just want to go there and give hugs. Thanks for sharing.
Oh my stars! Galatians 5:13 is the verse my whole church is memorizing together this month. That’s 20,000 people. We need to add verse 14 to that. What a difference we could all make if we focused on the one right in front of us, and they did the same and so on. Beautiful and life changing words here, friend!
Love this Logan. This has become a mantra in this season of life, and who knows? Maybe in 25 years it will still be. So grateful for your words here and the way you’re sharing your journey.