Serving "Here" is just as important as Serving "There"

While hanging out at Loomis Basin Brewery on a Friday night a few weeks back, a friend of Randy’s daughter said to me: “You guys restore my faith in humanity.”

It felt odd.

Because to us we aren’t doing anything spectacular.

We simply went where God told us to go.

And frankly it hasn’t felt like we’re even serving anyone here in Baja these 10 months. More often than not it feels like we're just waiting to be useful. 

But it did feel like we were serving when we were at a gas station in Lodi, California, and a woman and her daughter asked us for a dollar so they could get enough gas to get home. We didn’t have a single dollar. But we did have a credit card. So Randy pumped $6 worth of gas for them. They were embarrassed, humbled, and grateful.

And it did feel like serving when we arrived in Bishop, California, to discover that hotel after hotel was all full. And finally we landed at a hotel that had one vacancy. As I filled out the paperwork a woman came in behind me looking for a room. The desk clerk pointed at me and said I took the last one. “We’ve been driving and driving,” the woman said, near tears. The room that we’d been given was actually a two-bedroom apartment, so I said, “You are welcome to stay with us.” She looked at her husband who nodded, looked back at me and said, “Okay, thank you.”

These methods of serving came natural to us after being “home” for a week, where repeatedly friends and family loved and served and shared with us. Randy’s daughter provided us with a place to stay for the week, even though she was busy getting kids ready for school to start. We were invited into the homes (and backyards!) of friends Tony & Juli, Chris & Katie, Debbie & Chuck, Paul & Denise, Rick & Deena… into the work spaces of Popie Winery and Al’s metal shop and Dora’s RVs… out to lunch with Dave & Pam, Ed & Gail… to the wedding of James and Shawnna... given pounds of free coffee and a case of wine… free dog care… the list goes on and on. Our love tanks were full and they overflowed onto the strangers we met along the road “home.”

It might look like packing up your life and moving to an orphanage in Mexico is bigger or more important than meeting the needs in your own backyard. But more and more we are seeing that serving and sharing and faithfulness isn’t about what’s “over there”, it’s about what’s “here” in front of you, wherever you are.

So thank you. Thank you to all the friends and family who made time and space for us on our trip to California. You all loved us well.