Wheelchairs at 35,000 feet

There are moments in life where clarity comes in the most unusual places.  I had one of these moments today at 35,000 feet, somewhere between Seoul and Dubai.  The fact that became crystal-clear to me was this, “While we may be scattered across a very large planet, much of life can be boiled down to one thing…’relationships’”.

While traveling for work, several coworkers and I were standing at the back of an airplane talking with a man from England who is in the sea-freight business.  His job was fascinating to me.  While as a Pilot for UPS, I have spent thousands of hours in the air, the life of a sailor has always been intriguing to me.  While listening to this man talk about his job, he said the most enjoyable part for him is “working with people; and building relationships with those around him”.  While you may be asking yourself, “what does this have to do with wheelchairs”, the answer became immediately evident to me…”everything”.  Why do we collect wheelchairs?  People.  Where do we collect them?  From people!  Who do we interact with every step of the way?  You guessed it…people.  We can never lose sight of the fact that all we do in life, from our jobs, our families to mission work, all involve building and cultivating relationships.  It’s not a coincidence that this is the way God designed it to work.

I spend a lot of time calling nursing homes, hospitals and physical therapy businesses asking for help in collecting wheelchairs.  I tell many people along the way about how desperate the need is in Guatemala.  I have a lot of pictures to show, and I’m always ready to hand a business card to anyone who seems remotely interested in helping (maybe even some who are not).  At the end of it all, we are being given the opportunity to “connect and collect”.  We are “connecting” with one group, to “collect” for another one.

I am thankful for moments like this.  I am thankful for old friendships, and new ones as well.  Who knows, maybe we will be able add England to our map of volunteers.  Wouldn’t that be cool!!!

Dios Te Bendiga,

Brad