A Small Glimpse

I'm not the most spontaneous person on the planet. And sometimes when I get long distance calls, I don't want to answer them because it might cut into my day. On Thursday afternoon I received one of those calls. It was a call from a student of ours from our youth group in Los Angeles. Turns out he was standing at the main entrance of Cedar Park.

Kody Stewart just showed up unannounced with another one of our students, Huey Hulbert. For those of you who don't know Kody, this is definitely his M.O. in life. I think he's the fulfillment of the phrase, "flying by the seat of your pants." Kody is a professional mountain boarder and was making a gear run for a mountain board company based in Denver, where he currently lives. On his way "out of town" he shows up (unannounced of course) at Huey's house in Colorado Springs. "The Springs" is over an hour away in the opposite direction of Seattle...I love this kid! There is something inspiring about a free spirit like Kody that can just run until the tank of life is empty and somehow just keeps cruising on fumes for a miraculous amount of time.

Heather and I had the boys, now young men, over for dinner and they spent the entire meal telling us of near death experiences, life in Colorado, the updates of So Cal and all the memories we had at our little church in California. We talked about the time I broke Kody's wrist, the time he almost broke my tail bone on a mountain board, the time Huey won Fear Factor at snow camp, and about all the friends and stories we have from that little church. It was an evening full of laughter and reflection.

As the guys got into their truck with their sights set on another stop in Portland, I had a blessed feeling in my spirit. I felt a bit like a father...a spiritual dad of sorts. I hugged them and told them to go to church. I then told them if they didn't I would stick my foot somewhere unpleasant (just speaking the language of the people). It was one of those times where God shows you a small glimpse of heaven. I think sometimes He likes to show you the "payoff." He gives you a snapshot of what He has actually done in people's lives through your efforts, and it's like you can almost hear him say, "well done."

I know I'm not the most spontaneous person on the planet, but I really look forward to the next phone call from Kody.