Come With Me.

You say you want to get to know me….

To know and to be known. There is something great about that. And great things change the world.

So come with me.
Come with me to Nicaragua,
Where I learned what beauty really is—
As I stood in the presence of greatness,
Among those who have given their lives to serve the poor.
Come with me to give Elesha a hug,
Even though she’s the one who always runs to hug me first—
She’s down syndrome,
And I’ve never watched anyone worship as passionately as her.
Come with me into a prayer closet,
Where I get to meet one on one with my King—
That’s the place where this world fades away,
And everything becomes focused again.
Come with me to the streets of DC,
Let’s pray for that homeless man—
No one has ever told him he’s loved,
But those words will save his life.
Come with me to New York City,
Where we can go see a play on Broadway, (or not:-)
And afterwards go buy a random person dinner,
And laugh all night in the city that never sleeps.
(Whoever said purity couldn't be fun?!? They were wrong.)
Come with me—let’s walk up those steps,
Into the Supreme Court—
Even though my heart breaks over the unjust decrees,
I know God is raising up a righteous remnant again.
Come with me to the Spanish restaurant down the road,
Where we can drink leche con arroz,
And listen to amazing Salsa music,
As we eat until we’re stuffed.
Come with me to Elizabethville,
5 a.m. ITC exercise, baby!--
You'll get to see where I learned all of my kung fu skills,
And where I discovered what it means to be a friend.
Come with me into that all night harp and bowl meeting,
Cause that’s where I get stirred up—
That’s where heaven starts to invade earth
And faith builds to take the streets.
Come with me to watch Beauty and the Beast,
the movie that will never get old.
Maybe you'll laugh. Maybe not.
Hopefully you won't be too bored.
Come with me on one of those days,
Where nothing seems to get done--
You'll get to watch me get frustrated as I try really hard to bite my tongue--
And you'll know for sure I'm far from perfect.
Come with me on a cross country road trip,
In which you'll learn quickly just how small my bladder is--
But also how much I love spontaneous adventures
With friends and twizlers and good music.
Come with me on a thunderstormy night,
As I pray that the lights will go out
And I sit in amazement,
Listening to that awesome sound.
(Afterwards, we can go dance in the puddles)
Come with me to VA beach,
To visit my crazy beach bum friends--
The ones who are planning on going to Cambodia in a few years,
Cause they want to live for a cause bigger than themselves.
Come with me on a midnight canoe ride,
I won’t wear make-up or do my hair,
It will just be a trip underneath the stars—
The same stars that God showed Abraham as they made covenant.
Come with me—let’s hike that mountain,
It might be hard and we’ll sweat, but hard is often good—
We’ll bring a camera and pack a lunch,
And take pictures of the beautiful sight at the top.
Come with me to the inner city community center,
To hang out with a group of talented kids--
Who may never know the potential inside of them,
Unless someone--possibly you--tells them.
Come with me after a bad day,
Where I will probably sit on my bed,
And in the safety of my room,
Let the tears fall.
(It takes a lot for me to trust people with my tears)
Come with me to a crowded party,
There you’ll learn all about my insecurities—
How I love getting to know others one on one,
But in crowds I often tense up.

"You say you want to get to know me…."

Well, I want to get to know you.
I want to see you come alive.
I want to watch as your eyes light on fire with passion.
I want the chance to walk into your world--
To take a look at life through your eyes—
To understand the things that move you to tears--whether good or bad--
To find out the secrets that stir you up to want to be more than who you are right now.

Superficiality…it’s so easy.
And easy is often empty.
Just like microwave vegetables.
Quickly cooked—with no nutrition.

Fear keeps us superficial.
Apathy keeps us superficial.
For me…it’s mostly fear.
Cause to know and be known is scary.
It carries a lot of risk.
But with great risk comes great reward—
And great impact.
I’m preaching to myself.

I want nutrition.
That’s why I want to take the time to know you.
To hang out with you.
To serve with you.
To laugh with you.
To cry with you.
To listen to music with you.
To eat burritos with you. lol.
To mess up royally around you.
To love you even when you mess up royally
To act crazy together.
To embarrass myself in front of you.
To get angry with you.
And then apologize. And forgive.
To talk about Jesus with you.
As we love on Him together.

So…will you come with me?
Will you ask me to come with you?

To know and to be known. There is something great about that. And great things change the world.