Full disclosure, I’m writing this on Thursday night and scheduling it for my travel day back home. In between then, I have no idea how much drama might go down. I know some pretty epic reunions will happen, but I’m going to write about the moments that occurred from this past Sunday through Thursday. Trust me, that’s plenty.
First of all, my week was gloriously filled with Amandas. Sunday after church – wait, Sunday during church! My heart was so full yet again to be at my other home as I worshipped with my ECBC family, and I love how loved I am in that space. I’m also incredibly grateful for Brandon’s vulnerability to share a message from a hard passage of Scripture to show how important it is for us to be convicted and changed by the Bible – and to be compassionate to those who we see engage in harmful or hurtful behaviour. It was a helpful reminder for me as I head into this coming weekend.
But then I was able to detour on the way home with another Dutch Bros and Castlewood Canyon heart to heart. This time my friend Amanda picked me up and drove me to the Colorado gem where we chatted and shared some hearty laughs and encouraging words as we celebrated what God is doing in our lives now in these new seasons away from Germany. The next day I was heading back up to Denver to share a meal with Brandon and Derrick, two of the most amazing dudes who have been two of my biggest champions as I serve and follow Jesus. They met me when I was a kid, I mean, the age of some of the kids I work with. A young adult. I was like twenty-two or twenty-three.
By the grace of God, they saw something in me, and they commissioned me as the Embassy Church’s first missionary when I was twenty-four, and I’ve been blessed by their prayers and support ever since. This meal with my pastors was such an encouragement on so many levels, not least of which was knowing they are praying for me on purpose. Also these dudes love Jesus. So much. And it shows in every word and action. They are incredible role models, and, honestly, I am grateful they made time for me because they are also super busy doing the Lord’s work out in the city of Denver.
Before I got to sit down with them, though, I had a wild birthday celebration/covid family reunion with another important Amanda in my life. During the first lockdown, this other Amanda was my neighbour and became part of my bubble as she’d buy my prescriptions and groceries to reduce my contact when my doctors considered me high risk. She’d also spend late nights at the picnic table talking about life, the universe, and everything, and I cherish those memories. When she left Germany in the summer of 2020, she quarantined with my parents and then moved to Denver. I was last minute reaching out to her on her birthday when she said she happened to be free and was willing to invite me into her celebrations and let me hang out with her and Claire in the Denver Botanic Gardens – which she had guest passes to get me and my parents into for free. This woman is a gem on so many levels.
Tuesday I had In-N-Out with my sister in Garden of the Gods, and Wednesday I had Chipotle with my cousin Sarah. I’ve done all the good things in Colorado. Thursday morning I got up bright and early and said goodbye to my parents at the Denver airport where I said hello to my precious child Luke who was on the same flight as me to Grand Rapids. A kind woman swapped seats with him to let us chat on the two hours flight, and we’ll get more time together before and during this last wedding before my flight home. I’m super proud of Luke for some of his more recent life choices; many of you know the history of how precious this particular kid is to me – if you’ve seen my phone screen in the last decade, you’ve seen his feet.
When we landed in Grand Rapids, there was one more reunion for me before bed as my mentor Tina picked us up from the airport and dropped us at my hotel. After a bit of a kerfuffle at the hotel, the very kind manager apologised for a mistake in the booking that had not given me the accessible room and he immediately refunded the full price and comped a two night stay in a nicer hotel down the road that had an accessible hotel. I’m so excited about this shower, you guys.
Also, I got to spend a few hours with Tina, another one of the most important people in my life. If you’ve heard my story of moving overseas, you’ve heard about Tina’s influence in my life. She’s had a lot of moments of shifting the trajectory of my life in order to point me closer to Jesus. What an absolute joy to sit and share some life updates and hear about how her family is growing and thriving and give her the offline details of what God is doing in my life.
This being a scheduled post, I can only tell you of the anticipated reunions and the joy I will have tomorrow morning reuniting with Kari, Gracia, Esther, and a whole heap of other alumni attending this wedding. Every one of them is so, so precious to me, but I’m sure my travel saga will take over the next blog post as I head into launching term four at youth group as well.
