Glimpses

We were strolling with some American friends around a Czech Christmas market, when a little mittened hand grabbed hold of mine. Surprised, I looked down to see that my friend’s three-year-old daughter had decided to walk with me. We went together hand-in-hand down the sidewalk for a few minutes, matching our steps to each other, until she decided to let go and resume her own pace again, running happily ahead of us.

Suddenly it was as if I was transported back 20+ years to when I’d first met my friend. She’d been a spunky, precocious three-year-old herself when we’d first met, only a year younger than my youngest sister. Because I was a teenager at the time, we didn’t grow up particularly close, but since she was a best friend to my sisters it felt like she was often at my house, or attending similar activities. Through the years she was my student in Sunday school, children’s church, VBS, and youth group. I watched her grow and take early steps towards leadership, and observed her yearly developing a closer walk with God. We went “on mission” together to do volunteer work in Oklahoma, and years later she came to the Czech Republic for the first time at my request to serve at a camp with us. She met her husband at my wedding, and now she and her family are starting life as missionaries themselves.

Can I take credit for any of these things? Not really. (Though I often, jokingly, take credit for her meeting her husband at my wedding.) And yet, as I held her daughter’s hand down a European cobblestone street, I felt for a brief moment a part of this spiritual heritage. While I kid myself into thinking I’m still young, I realized I was old enough to look back on this generation, from a three-year-old friend to her three-year-old daughter. And while I didn’t shape my friend’s life, I still was part of her life. I got to watch her grow and develop into the person God was leading her to be. I got to be in relationship. I got to witness the change.

Spiritual heritage isn’t something that only happens through deep, close relationships. While those are beautiful and precious, something to be treasured, they aren’t the only ways we bring Jesus into someone’s life. We can bring Jesus with us just by being present and available over the long-haul. We can touch a life with our prayers, or by a few words of encouragement, or a helping hand. Jesus impacted his disciples on a daily basis over the course of three years, while Philip had only a brief period to help an Ethiopian eunuch understand the Scriptures and experience baptism before the Holy Spirit whisked him away. In each case, the disciples and the eunuch went on to touch the lives of countless others, who in their own turn touched the lives of others. And so the generations grew.

Maybe you’ve been blessed to work closely and deeply with those around you. Or maybe you’re continuing to shine like a faithful light in your community or for those you pass by. Each person has their gifting, and each season comes with change. Continue to be the living witness God has called you to be, in community, not in isolation, and in time you may be surprised by a glimpse of your spiritual heritage, just as I was surprised by the little hand that found its way into mine.

About the author: Caity Lucchi started telling Bible stories as a teenager and never stopped. As an adult she left her home in Iowa to go “on mission” with her husband and two young children in the Czech Republic. She loves being able to share her passion for Jesus stories in the Czech Republic and across Europe. In her free time, Caity enjoys writing, traveling, learning new languages, and caring for her new lawn and garden.

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