The Longest Ride Home

It was my senior year of High School and Andrew was at Souls Northwest.  It was that time of the year in which he needed a car in order to sell big books door to door and there we were, his car delivery team.  So the family jumped into our extremely comfortable corolla (sarcasm) and drove all the way to Vancouver, Washington with the intention to stay for a couple of days.  

As we got there, I can recall the excitement and the positive vibes of the whole family being together.  Whatever we did, we did it happily and joyfully.  For goodness sake, I can't recall being so happy picking up groceries with the fam.  But we toured around Washington and spent the days enjoying the company of one another.  Then it was time for my brother to get back to work.  But the family was still going to be there for one more day, so I decided to join him at work.  

As we went door to door, I started to think to myself, man, this is some pretty hard work.  The fact is the houses are sometimes miles apart, the rain just doesn't seem to stop, the dogs can't be anymore meaner, and so on and so forth.  So my heart started to drop realizing that this was the work my brother was going to go through.  Neither did I know that as my parents were driving around town, that they were thinking the exact same thoughts.    

Finally the day came where it was time to part our ways.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  There we were gathered in a Walmart parking lot.  The bro had his car and we had our rental car for the journey down.  Finally as we gathered together to pray, I heard someone crying.  I couldn't help but peak and there I saw my dad breaking down into tears.  The thing is my dad has always been a tough guy to crack.  Maybe thats what happens when you come from the villages of Sumatra Indonesia.  But here he was crying.  Then Drew started to cry, then within minutes we were all in tears.  My family was an emotional mess.

I then remember my dad asking Andrew, "Drew, are you sure want to do this?  I'll send you anywhere else you name it, don't worry about the cost."  But my brother replied that it was God's will and that he must to go.  

Then it hit me!  This cannot compare to how the father felt when He sent His Son to die for us.  Imagine the hardship of sending your beloved son to a planet that will beat Him, spit on Him, and curse Him.  I mean Drew would have to deal with cold long days, slammed doors, mean dogs, but not a cross and people mocking and spitting upon him.  However, I don't think the Father ever asked the question, "Hey, are you sure you want to go down to earth to save those folks?"  It probably went more like this, "I love you but go and save some people that will nail you to a cross.  In fact die for a man that will be your disciple but betray you in the end.  And while you're there, though people will lie to you, hurt you, abuse you, go and love them."  I don't think there was any place the Father would want Christ to be except earth.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  -John 3:16 (mainstream, yet we don't fully grasp it)

So we parted our ways, and I can still remember the silence in the car, and the spontaneous burst of tears for at least an hour.  I can honestly say, that had to have been the longest ride home. 

Here's a Pic from the actual trip.  Much love Fam!