Isaac to São Paulo: Episode 1 — “It’s Time to Jump”

It’s here y’all. It really is.

TODAY, in a couple of hours, I’m heading out to Brazil til Dez (“December” in Portuguese — Oh, come on! Admit it. You’re impressed by my language skillz).

There’s no doubt that God’s grace and sovereignty have manifested themselves in my life prior to my own birth. Each manifestation declares his glory louder and louder, and each step of my faith leaves me ZERO doubt that God is in complete control and that he loves me more than I could hope. No single step of faith has felt greater than the one I’m taking now.

It feels like I’m jumping out of of a plane:

Like

this. At 13,000 feet, you can’t see the ground. You have NO idea what’s next. Let’s be real, I barely knew the dude on my back. But I knew one thing — He was in control. He spoke to me. He calmed me. He knew what he was doing and was fully confident to get my behind on the ground safely. And though I could only see in front of me when I jumped, I knew he was there — ready to pull the right chute and the right time and save me. Thankfully God let me live through this haha. But all I could do was enjoy the ride. You’ll notice that the plane is empty. Many of my friends jumped before me, and now it is my turn. Turning back is indeed an option.

But not for me.

No phase of my preparation for this trip urged me more than my good friend, Kirk Urso, and his sudden death.

This picture actually describes our relationship perfectly haha — awkwardly great and unexpected. I love it.

Twenty-two years old. Drafted into the MLS. NCAA Soccer Champion and captain of the UNC-CH men’s soccer team. Everyone loved him. To the naked eye, Kirk had it ALL. You can’t really see it, but this kid had the nicest head of hair. It’s like a blonde angel lost his wig, and it fell on Kirk’s head, but I digress.

Kirk was truly my first friend to die. Unexpected and tragic. I had no idea how to respond and really still don’t. But all I know is that it was not Kirk’s championship diamond-studded ring that could save him.

It was God. And the epitome of Ecclesiastes (a book of the Bible) that basically says knowing God is the whole reason man exists and the ONLY thing that will last in this life, struck me like a Kirk’s foot to a soccer ball (and I’m telling you, he could SMACK that thing).

So how many more Kirk’s do we need to lose before we realize that the cheesy phrases in songs are true? We have no idea when our time is ending. No one is immune to death. Every step could be your last. Live like you were dying. Bla bla bla. It’s so romanticized that it takes the death of loved ones to wake us up to one fact:

That if the gospel is true, it’s VITAL that people know it.

Can someone please say “Amen”? And I’m going to die trying to show the world. Not by throwing a bible at anyone’s head. Not by saying “YOU SINNER! YOU’RE GOING TO HELL.” Not by judging. Just by loving. Loving them, yes – other human beings who are people, not projects, not mission targets. I trust God to do what he always does — to show up and to show off. Who knows what that will look like? But He’s never let me down, and He never will. The whole process of my raising support proves this.

These are some of my “Thank You” cards to my supporters. If you haven’t gotten yours — it’s on the way! God gave me MUCH more than I needed to.

“Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.”

The words of 1 Kings 8:56 ring so true! The plane is cruising at 14,000 feet. The stakes are even higher. Like Abraham, I’m leaving everything I know behind. I’m just going on faith. It’s time to jump into the wildest adventure of my life. It’s time. This is God’s call on my life for this season. He’s holding me.

Até-logo (See Ya Later) Lord willing,

Isaac

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