Quick reflection after recording with Brian. On a rare occasion, we a blessed with relationships that feel like a Divine intervention. I can say with 100% certainty, my friendship with Brian is exactly that.
From the first time we met in that car when I was getting picked up from the airport in the Dominican Republic, we were finishing each other’s sentences, had a slew of inside jokes, and were already diving WAY deep in trial and error of being a human on this planet. To be fair, when you are serving a community that is less privileged than you, it opens your heart and eyes in ways that feel almost undeserving.
I have been on two mission trips to the Dominican Republic, two to Costa Rica, and one to Haiti. Every single one of them, in some ways, made me feel selfish. That selfishness came from the joy I experienced in being able to have my privileged life waiting back for me in the states, be completely stripped down to the simplicity I know in my heart we were meant to live. I remember having this conversation with Brian on one of our mission trips (we have done 3 trips together: one to the Dominican Republic and two to Costa Rica). This excitement of knowing you can leave the world behind as you know it and enter a place that knows the heart of what really matters – living a life grounded in love. The white savior complex is real. You think you are going to another country where you have more access to education, money, and things, and that somehow this will make these peoples lives better just by you showing up to their community. The reality is, when you arrive, you realize you’re the one being helped and healed.
Perhaps, in going on three trips where you see a world where clean water and electricity are considered luxuries and people don’t have things, they have each other, and you have zero cell service or connections back to your life at home, you can’t help but be stripped down to yourself. Every trip I have been on reminded me of all the ways Americans are the ones who need mission work done on themselves, their families, and the communities in which they live. It is much easier here in the states to hide our fears and inadequacies behind material things. Brian and I connected on seeing the world this way immediately.
Beyond all the sarcasm and jokes that opened our hearts to each other when we first initially met, lied a deep knowing the world could only be better when we did the work on ourselves. The first week, we started with movie lines and quotes and quickly shifted of exploring the intricacies of being a person and all the way our culture and ideas of that got in our way. The beauty of not having your cell phone, besides losing distractions like social media, is how it creates a space for us to truly lean into the moment and embrace what is.
Brian and I recorded a Deep Dive on the topic of toxic masculinity. His courage to be vulnerable and combat cultural norms never ceases to amaze me. Grateful for my brother Brian and all the ways we continue to show up for each other on this journey of life.
Flex This 