Glimpses

The first time I went to Belize it was in a whirlwind of joy. I knew I was going to get married in the next year, and I was going to start my first call in the ministry. I was going on this trip with great friends who had walked the journey of seminary with me. We were doing what the seminary told us to do – take a trip you wouldn’t normally take, because once you get into ministry you will be so involved you won’t have time for awhile. So we took a cruise, something I had always wondered what it would be like. We got a good deal. We were much younger than the majority of the people on the ship, but we didn’t mind because we were set on having a blast. We spent a lot of time laughing and talking about the future of ministry. Probably my favorite day of the cruise was when we docked in Belize and decided to ask a local what to do. We were directed to an island called Caye Calker. On the island we met a guy from the U.S. who moved to Belize for retirement. I began to imagine what it would be like to just move to a place like this. We couldn’t have asked for a better day, perfect blue skies with the sun shinning on the sand. I even found an Internet café to email Mindy. It was just a little hut, but had computers inside. We have some great pictures of us guys hanging out that day. By far, that was my favorite memory of the cruise. I have a dream of taking Mindy there one day to see that little café. In my opinion, it was like I had experienced the best of God’s creation.

I got the chance to go back to Belize on a mission trip. I always questioned if a Belize trip would live up to the hype I had made it in my head. We got to stay in a great, safe condo on the beach, but our real focus was a little village just down the road where they had little to nothing. While it was a completely different experience than my first trip, it was just as amazing! I got to see teenagers hungry for Jesus. When we came into the village, they experienced a little bit of heaven by the way we cared for them, bringing VBS and a youth time dedicated to their needs. The first time I went to Belize I was passionate about my first call and marriage, and I got to experience God’s great creation. The second time I went there I began to contemplate moving from youth ministry to a broader ministry. Belize was a place where God was all over. I look back and all I have is fond memories of both of those trips.

But both times I had to come back to reality. My first trip I brought back a painful sunburn, and came back to some grueling days as I worked hard to finish Seminary. The second time, I came back to days of processing through what was next for me in ministry. Both times I wanted to head back to Belize and build a tent and stay.

Some of you may remember me telling this story, or some of it, before. That is ok because that is part of my point. When you experience something like this you never forget it. In some ways, the people you tell never fully get the picture. No matter how well you explain it or how many times you talk about it, they had to be there to fully understand. You probably have a place like that, a place where you felt God in the midst of His creation. Maybe it is a pinnacle moment in your life. Perhaps, occasionally, you drift back there wishing you could experience that again.

This is where we are going this weekend. Anytime we are dealing with Jesus on earth, we talk about it a lot. We have to understand the disciples, the scene, the context, and then finally what it means for us. There are certain stories that are harder to do this with than others, and the Mount of Transfiguration is one of those for me. I have read or heard this story thousands of times, and yet this year it has had more impact with experiencing heaven on earth. There is no doubt that Peter and James had a much greater Belize-type experience than I could ever understand. It made a lasting impression of the promise fulfilled by Jesus, and what they had to look forward to in heaven.