Question. Has anyone ever taken you to the airport and stayed with you until the very last moment just to say goodbye to you? I mean, they stay while you check your bags and get ticketed then they walk with you all the way to security (because airport security won’t let them go any further without a ticket) just to get one last glimpse of you and wave goodbye at the last possible moment. Has that ever happened? Here’s how it works... they wait to make sure you get your luggage checked and you get your ticket. Then they walk with you to security. Then you hug, and say goodbye to each other on the “staying side” of security. Then you pick-up all the carry-on stuff that you had to lay down on the ground to properly hug, you corral all your kids (if you have kids with you) and then you hand your ticket to the first security guy standing there at the entrance to the security area. Then they (the people left on the other side of security - “the staying side”) usually stand there and watch you from a distance as you make your way through the metal detectors, put your shoes and belt back on, pick-up all your stuff off that little conveyer/roller thing and then as you’re rounding the corner to go to your gate you throw up one last wave at the last possible moment. Poof... then you’re gone, out of sight. You know what I’m talking about, right?
Well we’ve had to do that 3 times in the last month. Once with a family that was staying with us on a short-term mission trip and twice with our oldest son (he got bumped from stand-by on his first attempt going home so we had to say goodbye twice to him... awesome). We’re not use to being the ones on the “staying side.” We’ve always been the ones leaving and someone else was always being left behind. So, for us to have to do it, was surreal. We stood in the exact same place that other people had stood in and had “waved us off” from. It was weird being left standing there (especially in another country) while your family and friends were leaving you behind.
When we (Me and MJ) got back in the car after dropping Michael (our son) off at the airport (for the second time in 1 week), the thought ran through my mind that “this wasn’t fair.” The fact that we can’t even be in the same country as our son doesn’t seem fair. Sorry, I guess I’m not spiritual enough or something, but that’s just the way I felt. But then, when I actually stopped and thought about it, there’s “the call”... that’s right, “the call.” And sometimes God calls us to do things that don’t seem fair from our perspective and it’s difficult. But that’s when we have to make the decision... are we gonna actually Follow Jesus and trust God, because He has a greater purpose for our lives than what we could ever comprehend? Or are we going to do the easy thing and do what seems right and comfortable in our own minds? Trust... it all boils down to that one word. So, what about you? You could be going through the same situation right now with your job or with a relationship and it doesn’t seem fair (and it probably isn’t) but it’s what God has called you to do and deep down you know it. Are you gonna just press through because you trust Him or are you gonna take a different path? The choice is up to you.
As far as Me and MJ?... we’re gonna keep standing on “the staying side” of security until God says otherwise. People’s lives are counting us and we want to be where God wants us. What about you?
There’s nothing like Following Jesus: )
Waving From This Side of Security,
Jim and MJ
PS- Not all of the insects here are dangerous ones. Sure most of them bite you, leave scars or (at the very least) are super annoying, but some of them aren't. The picture at the top is of this bug that lives here. It's absolutely beautiful (sounds weird I know) but it really is: )
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