The Unlikely Pilgrim: And So It Begins

And so it begins.

Today is the start of a very long day — to New York, then to Amman, Jordan. I start at 7 this morning and will land at 3 PM Friday. I have no idea how long the trip is. There are about 11 of us who part of the the Jordan Tourism Board-sponsored Journalist/Writer trip

There are plenty of thoughts running through my head. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind as God has placed amazing people in my life who have paved the way. I have connections that I would have never dreamed of having that have been dropped into my lap.

FIrst there’s Louis, who is lives just a few miles from my house who was introduced by a local writer friend. (Read his story here) He’s a Jordanian who loves Jesus and love his country. He introduced me to a gracious missionary couple who minister to Syrian refugees. I’m staying in their house and then celebrating Sunrise Easter Service on Mt. Nebo (the mountain where Moses saw the Promised Land.) with them. They are strangers, but “any friend of Louis’ is a friend of ours.

And then there’s a man who is a high-ranking government official, who is sympathetic to Christians and is eager to show his country’s progress. I’ve been promised that he’ll take me “to visit with “many important people.”

And then there’s you. Hundreds on Facebook and on these pages surrounding me with prayers and encouragement.

I’m overwhelmed. I’m blessed. I’m humbled. Why would these strangers would trust me with their story? Why would the country of Jordan have faith that I would represent their country well, so much faith that they would spend so much to bring me there?

There’s no other explanation,except that God has a story and for whatever reason, I’m supposed to tell it. I can argue with Him, tell Him that He’s crazy. I can give him a list of hundreds of others more qualified. I can deflect and deny and deflate this opportunity. Or I can just accept it for what it is.

I am thinking about Abraham, the first real Pilgrim, who “when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”

And so go I.