Come Away

It’s our first morning back together in Kona as a whole school, and there are about 70 of us squeezing together along the side of the Banyan tree cafe on campus. The base is packed out and overflowing this term and this is one of the only places available, and spacious enough to fit us. It’s just past nine in the morning, but the Hawaiian sun is already beginning to rise in all its glorious heat. A gentle breeze carries through the air around us, and the tender strums of the acoustic guitar up front float up to greet it.

“Come away with me. Come away with me. It's never too late, it's not too late. It's not too late for you... I have a plan for you. I have a plan for you. It's gonna be wild. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be full of me....”

In this moment I am swept away. My mind carries me back to China and like the trailer of a movie being played before me are all the challenges and victories, the relationships and the divine encounters God blessed us with. I am reminded not only of how good he was to us, but how he allowed, and continues to allow, us to “come away” with him. To be a part of what he is doing. We just need to open up our heart and let him in.

I am also reminded of how often we can come back from an experience overseas and feel as if we haven’t done enough, like we’ve failed or let God down, and like he’s disappointed in us. But his love is so deep and fathomless that the last thing he wants us to be is distant from him. I love the promise of the lyrics, “It’s never too late.... I have a plan for you. It’s gonna be wild. It’s gonna be great. It’s gonna be full of me.” I want that.


I was mesmerized by the lyrics of this song and hope it blesses you like it did me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZoOfGiqZ7Y