Jason's the white kid. They're in the middle of a road after a rain.
I got a call tonight as I was leaving work from a number I didn’t recognize. It was my friend Jason! He taught in Paraguay before I got there, and we lived together for a few weeks before he moved back to the US, but I stayed in the apartment he turned into a home.
There’s something about an experience in a foreign country that seems to bond you with a person you share it with in a way you wouldn’t be bound if you just hung out in your own.
Whenever I think of Jason, I think of Paraguay. And often when I think of Paraguay, I think of Jason.
So when he called me tonight and said, “Jason, I’m about an hour and a half away from Richmond on my way to North Carolina, and I was hoping to visit,” I was thrilled. I quickly called Kathy and told her we had a visitor coming.
We sat outside in about 90 degree weather drinking tereré and talking about old times and what’s happened since we last chatted. It was nice for Kathy to talk about her home country and be able to converse in Spanish fluently with someone other than me. And tereré always tastes better when shared.
Jason and I have spent a total of about 3 hours together in the two and a half years since he left Paraguay, but I feel as close to him as if we have been friends our whole life.
That’s what Jesus does between friends. That’s what life-changing experiences do between people. I can’t think of Jason without thinking of Paraguay. It was probably the most influential trip of both of our lives, even though we did it at different times. We are who we are as individuals and possibly even as Christians largely due to our experiences in Pargauay.
I’m sure you’ve had visits like this as well in your own life. A friend drops by out of the blue and you converse like not a day has passed. I love how the Lord keeps us together this way. It’s a bond I wouldn’t trade for the world.
See you when you get back from Spain, Jason!
-j
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