It's The People

Yes, it is definitely the people.  They are certainly the reason for this toad trip.  Oh, yes, we will see many new vistas, taste a broad variety of foods, experience a host of new events otherwise not found sitting in my recliner, but it's the people who initiated this trip and who will give it dimension.  It will be the people we know and have known, people who are family and perhaps seldom or never seen, and the people who we have never met and will never see again as we move on.

As we prepare for this trip by making lists and checking off items on those lists, we are also reviewing names, memories and contact information.  Yesterday we checked in on a friend and we were given yet different phone number.  The second number revealed an exuberant "Gail and Denvy, what a blast from the past!"  That in itself ratcheted up our enthusiasm several notches.  She was a next door neighbor in Trapper Creek, a friendly progressive young lady with kids about the age of our kids.  We've haven't seen her in say about 15 years, but as the cliché goes, "We picked up where we left off," years earlier.

Not every effort to reconnect goes like that.  Several phone messages remain unanswered.  Some are doing their own traveling and our timing was unfortunate.  Some are no longer capable of answering the phone, which is why we would love to see and hug these people one more time.  Some don't really know us from Adam and aren't interested in meeting their never seen great aunt and uncle; besides they have their own busy lives to live and, well, we're just not part of that schedule.  In these cases, they may be on our list but we are not on their list of people to connect with, and that's just fine.

This nasty war in Ukraine is another reminder that it's the people.  We did a mission trip there in 2004 helping convert a storefront into what was to become their church, doing some Bible studies with the children, and sharing worship and a retreat experience in the rural hillsides.  Now we're not thinking about the statutes we saw, or the quaint small houses with gardens and a tethered cow, or the churches and marketplaces; we're thinking about the families with whom we stayed and the church members with whom we shared a Ukrainian hymn.  We're thinking about Yiktor, Ivanka, Raya, Sasha and so many whose names have vanished even those the memories of laughter haven't.  Now 18 years later, these young people are of the age of those fighting for Ukraine and raising their young families.  Yes, it's the people who are the reason.

Setting aside the comforts of home and stability doesn't compare to the relationships we will kindle with this trip.  Besides when it's all done and said, and we cross the bar to another phase, what will there be but relationships.  We suspect there will be no physical bodies, no possessions, only our essences interacting with the essence of others.  Yes, it's the people.  And so we get up out of our bed, our recliner, our comfort zone to connect with people.