Trusting God with the finish

In the weeks before I left Costa Rica (almost four years ago now), my heart broke as I watched the kids start to realize the time was approaching. I wanted them to know the depth of my love for them, to know that I would carry them with me through the rest of my life, to understand that they weren't just a summer to me. I would have stayed if I could, but that wasn't where God had me.

As we were leaving La Cuenca one day, Hugo turned to me and, knowing what I was thinking, said, "You just have to trust, because God tells us that we will reap what we sow. So every one of those kisses that you give the kids, every time you open yourself up and love them, those are seeds that will be planted deep down in their heart. And you have to trust that years from now, even though they might not remember all the specifics of who you were or what you did, they will remember that one time, someone really loved them. And that's the best legacy you can leave behind."

I don't like to start projects that I won't be able to see through to the end. If I can't fix a situation completely, I don't like to get involved. For a long time, this has kept me from pursuing the path closest to my heart. Don't get me wrong-- having the drive to stick with something to the end is a good thing. But there are some projects we won't be able to finish. There's a Jewish proverb about working for justice in the world that goes something like this: "The fact that we will not, in this lifetime, be able to finish the work, does not give us permission not to begin." I'm paraphrasing, but the point is there. If we refuse to try our hand at any good work for fear of failing, we are motivated only by selfishness, by the desire to maintain our own good name.

It is God's to see the work through from start to finish; we are to plant or water or reap as He calls us. We may not see the completion of it in our lifetime, but we will see more than if we never begin.