The John 15:13 Protocol

There is a part of me that would follow this down to the very letter. I can picture the faces of those individuals who I would do this for with out second though or regret. (If I had a moment to regret the finality of the ‘to the letter’ execution) Some people might be surprised to be on that list of people, others know that they are there and in the end we would probably fight each other on who gets to lay down and who gets spared and both go down, then look at each other on the far side of death and roll our eyes at each other.

There is a lesser form of this Protocol, that doesn’t involve pain and suffering, but rather a commitment of time. Today I took 4 hours out of my day (5 if you count lunch) to pick up one of my old youth group kids about 1hr south of where I live and transport her 1hr north of where I live. (Santa Ana to Ventura) This was after I found out on Friday that she was stuck in Santa Ana after a miscommunication with one of her rides. So I call her up late and I am pretty sure she is shocked to hear me on the other line, but in the end she is thankful. I had planned on going to Glendora for the day to worship in the morning at my old college roommate’s church and then crawl into a Starbucks and hide from the rest of the world for the day and get the outline for my Old Testament essay final done.

No hesitation, no thinking, my left and right hand were in agreement as they worked together to call her. She was blessed by the ride and I was one of the cool people who got to hang out with her on her 2.5-week trip to California (from Florida). I gave up hanging out with my friend and getting a good morning with God to bless a wayward traveler, all I got in return was a hug, which was all that was needed. There are more details by which I would explain myself, but she may read this and she isn’t ready to hear the rest them. The simple part of me hopes that she simply understands that she is loved, and that there are good people in the world.

Carly Hudson: If you are lost, stuck, or in need of help; I will be there for you if it is within my power to do so, but you already know that ...

This goes for everyone else too.