We are All journeying together

I'd made it through customs in Honduras and was waiting on two new friends from Florida to come through. I thought they might need help with their luggage. Little did I know they'd need a Honduran army to help them with their luggage!😲

When I first saw their collection of large suitcases, I was worried that I somehow had signed up to move to Honduras and not visit. And that I was significantly under packed for the move. It turns out they weren't moving but had suitcases full of items they'd collected and bought back home to bring to the kids.

Toothbrushes and balls and socks and toys and just stuff to give to the kids they don't receive every day. It was incredibly generous and kind. I was happy to serve as a makeshift moving van.

At each of the four shoe distributions a suitcase full of offerings many of the team members had brought along was handed out. After each child received their shoes, they moved on to the toy table.

The toy table was a huge attraction. So were the empty suitcases.

My friends decided they wanted to leave the suitcases behind for the community. (I was a bit grateful there weren't plans to load them with souvenirs that would then need to be transported to their plane on their return trip home 🤷‍♂️).

On the last visit a young girl was staring at one of the suitcases. You could tell she desired it.

My friend told her she could have it.

On the suitcase were two ribbons. One blue and one pink. They were my friend's daughters' favorite colors. I could tell there were a lot of memories attached to that suitcase. Quite literally attached.

The little girl opened her new suitcase. Something about the way she opened it, with care and appreciation, told me it might be the most beautiful gift she'd ever received. She went about cleaning out some of the trash inside it, and once it was as beautiful as she longed for it to be, she zipped it back up and rolled it away.

I saw her stop by her mother. She put the suitcase back down and opened it back up. Then she took a bag from her mother's hands and placed it inside the suitcase. Almost as if packing for a trip. Then she zipped it back up. Rolled it away.

She was smiling.

I don't know if the smile was because she was helping out her mother. Or if it was because she was dreaming of a family vacation. Or if she suddenly felt like a normal girl with a normal set of luggage. But that suitcase opened something in her. Unlocked something maybe.

As we were leaving the location, climbing a steep dirt road, out the van window we could see the girl pulling her suitcase up the hill. As we passed by she looked and waved and smiled.

I wonder if she felt like we were all traveling together now. Like we were all on a shared journey.

We do that for one another when we share our gifts. Whether tangible gifts or the gifts of our spirit. We connect to one another in very real ways.

I think it's important when we do to trace that connection. Trace it back to the memories of the family vacations that suitcase rolled along on. Trace it back to the pink ribbon and the blue one. Connect the memories of the past with the dreams of the future and the memories to come.

Even if it's a family vacation walking up a dirt road; in that child's imagination it was a beautiful vacation. It's a forever memory with its own ribbon color.

We too often miss out on knowing how beautiful this journey is we are all taking together when we fail to stop and honor the connection. Because a suitcase is not just a suitcase when it's a part of the journey.

It is the journey.

It is pink and blue and it is all colors.

Because we are all on a shared journey. We just don't often enough take time to recognize it.