Love as Belizeans do

It feels good to write again.

Given how life has changed for the good (a working routine can lift spirits so much-I cannot state how grateful I am for that, not to mention what a miracle this has all been), and in some ways for the disheartening, it's amazing how the lessons we learn even in recent months can apply so well.

Like most people, when I dream, the places which have a profound effect on me become settings for the dream. Belize was no exception and it didn't take long to show up. The other night, I dreamed I went back and although I was tired and wanted to collapse into bed every night, just like when I was actually there, it was a little glimpse of Heaven in my mind. I have no idea if I was alone or with friends, but dream casting filled in the gaps, as it always does.

I couldn't have been happier. It felt like a homecoming of sorts. I was back in Progresso at Templo La Hermosa, seeing Pastor Vitalino and Ida. Felipe and Carla. Byron. Carlos. Danelson. Hector.

I had a chance to see Angel, Lorelly, and Luda and serve with them again.

My Belizean brothers and sisters in Christ. My fast friends who taught me so much about love. A love which dives deep and isn't concerned interstate travel, cross-country drives, international flights, or bilingual communication. This is the real deal. They love like God loves.

And in this, after I woke up, I realized how important that is in my life as part of a larger body of believers in the midst of a vulnerable chapter. Templo La Hermosa taught their American friends about loving deeply, as a family does, and even in moments of weakness. In those moments, there may be hurt and pain, but there is not abandonment.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
~John 13:34-35 (ESV)

I pray that as a body, we do just that.