During our trip to Germany we spent some time in Berlin with our friend Kristi Walker and her co-workers there. Joining Kristi were two college students on spring break that were possibly interested in relocating to Berlin following their formal education. Oh yeah...they were dating. At lunch one day Kristi commented to these young lovebirds what an amazing opportunity it was for them to travel and experience Europe together. Based on their response, I'm not sure how much of an "amazing opportunity" they believed they were experiencing. I don't blame them for this...they are young. But as I reflected on Kristi's words I looked over at this beautiful person next to me at the table (no...not you Eric) and the weight of what she said hit me like a sledgehammer.

I have the opportunity to travel with what I do for a living. But many times I go away and Gretchen is left behind to take care of things on the home front. And while I'm home we don't have many opportunities to go out, just the two of us, and enjoy each other's company without the kids, pressures of life, and various other responsibilities. We try to create space once a month to go out together but that ends up being more like once every two months or once every six weeks if we are lucky. So to travel with Gretchen to Europe and experience the beauty of both the landscape and people there with Gretchen was well...an "amazing opportunity".

If you know Gretchen and I fairly well you know we are pretty private with expressing our love for each other and neither of us long for the spotlight. But for this post, I want to break the mold and say some things about my traveling companion to Germany (no, not you again Eric). I love Gretchen for so many reasons but I have always said that one of the biggest reasons I love her is for her genuine compassion and gift of mercy towards other people. It was one of the first things I noticed about her in college and this characteristic continues to grow and flourish in her today. I saw her use this gift in Germany and I know that people there who were fortunate enough to meet her will never be the same. I saw her kneel and pray with a girl troubled in spirit when spoken languages caused a divide. But Gretchen's act of compassion crossed those language barriers and this troubled teen saw a heart of love. I listened to Gretchen explain to me that one of her greatest purposes for the trip was to come alongside of people that may be a little lonely and give them her undivided love and attention. She willingly laid down some of her own priorities and hopes for the trip to see those around her experience a sense of companionship. She entered into the worlds of four 9 year-olds at a basketball clinic and became more excited about their success on the basketball court than they did. She put her arm around a wife struggling with her husband's soon-to-be deployment to Afghanistan and cried with her...feeling her pain and carrying the burden as if it was me being shipped out.

Gretchen is one of the greatest examples of Jesus I could ever know. I know no other person that as a lifestyle models Jesus life of servanthood. She is great because she always puts herself last. She is great because she is a servant of all. She models that on not just a trip to Germany, but in our home, our church, and those blessed to call her "friend".

Thanks for traveling with me Gretchen and when you can't...thanks for being excited for me when I go alone. But know this - my experiences without you are only half (at best) of what they could and should be. I'm blessed to share life with you and I will forever be grateful to God for giving you to me as a wife. I look forward to many more trips together but I will always cherish the memories we made in Germany.