I am home, but…

I am home and I am happy.

Seattle is home. It is the only place, other than Afghanistan, that I have ever called home. I love living where I live. I love the rhythm of this place, the air, the water, the familiarity. Most of all, I love who I live with. This is where I rest. This is where I belong. This is where I say, without hesitation: I am home.

And yet.

The last ten days in Columbus changed me.

I won’t talk about what I learned – – – not yet. That can wait. What I want to talk about is what it felt like – – – because feelings – – – when they are true, tell you something learning alone never can. Remember that, please.

Over the last ten days, I participated in over thirty practices.

Locker rooms. Team practices. Coaches’ offices. Captains’ practices. Board rooms. Offices. Basements – – – both of them. Bars. Churches. Homes. Lunches. Dinners. Car rides. Pro Football Hall of Fame. Late nights around a good fire.

And something happened in every one of those places. They became sacred spaces. Not because of me. But because of the people who opened their lives and their heart to me.

What did I experience? Love. Laughter (laughed so hard one night with my builder that I had to crawl to my room and lock the door to get away from him. I almost choked to death…tears of laughter!) Fellowship. Companionship. Brokenness. Belief. Fear. Trust. Loyalty. Growth. Pain. Leadership. Sadness. Elation. Discipleship…But if I could only pick one word to describe my time in Columbus?

Oneness.

There is a power that shows up when people decide – – – consciously – – – to let love lead. Not sentimentality. Not performance. Not motivational talk. I mean the real thing: attention, presence, humility, courage and vulnerability. The willingness to be seen. The willingness to see you. The willingness to care.

I felt it everywhere.

I felt it when a coach spoke honestly about fear and responsibility. I felt it when players trusted one another enough to listen. I felt it when leaders admitted they didn’t have all the answers but showed up anyway. I felt it when doors opened that didn’t have to open. I felt it when conversations went longer than scheduled because something real was happening. I felt it when my builders spoke truth to me.

That is the power of love.

That is the power of oneness.

It turns ordinary places into holy ground. It turns work into calling. It turns strangers into family.

What struck me most was not excellence – – – though there was plenty of that. It was focused care. The kind of focused care that costs something. The kind that slows you down. The kind that asks you to be responsible not just for results but for people. The kind of focused care that bears the mystical fruit of oneness.

By the end of the trip, I realized something quietly and without drama:

I have another home now.

Home is NOT geography. Home is where you are known. Home is where you are welcomed without pretense. Home is where people invite you into their work, their play, their doubts, their hopes, and their lives.

Columbus did that for me.

So yes – – – I am home now. I’m back where I live, back where I love, back where my life is rooted. AND I am grateful beyond words. BUT I am also carrying another home with me. One built not of walls or addresses but of shared hours, shared meals, shared silence, shared trust.

Thank you, Columbus – – – ALL OF YOU!

Thank you for opening doors. Thank you for opening hearts. Thank you for reminding me – – – again – – – that when love leads, everything changes.

I am home – – – and – – – I miss my family and friends in Columbus, my second home.

Both.

Together We Transform – – – always, ALWAYS TOGETHER.

Lucy photo bombed us!…:)