You’ve read the stories in this book, but what’s better than all of those stories are the ones you’re continuing to write with your life. If you’re like me, I’d ask myself at the end of a book called Love Does—so what do I do? It can be a tough question to answer, honestly, but it can also be an easy one. Let me tell you what I do when I don’t know what to do to move my dreams down the road. I usually just try to figure out what the next step is and then do that. I know it sounds too simple, too formulaic; it seems like there must be more to it. But there isn’t. For most of us, that next step is as easy as picking up the phone, sending an e-mail, writing a letter, buying a plane ticket, or just showing up. After that, things start happening. Things that perhaps have God’s fingerprints on them. You’ll know which ones do and which ones don’t. Pick the ones that do.
What’s your next step? I don’t know for sure, because for everyone it’s different, but I bet it involves choosing something that already lights you up. Something you already think is beautiful or lasting and meaningful. Pick something you aren’t just able to do; instead, pick something you feel like you were made to do and then do lots of that. You weren’t just an incredible idea that God never got around to making. The next step happened for the world when God dropped you on the planet. You’re here and I’m here. God decided to have us intersect history, not at just any time, but at this time. He made us to be good at a few things and bad at a couple others. He made us to love some things and not like others. Most of all, He made us to dream. We were meant to dream a lot. We’re not just a cosmic biology experiment that ended up working. We’re part of God’s much bigger plan for the whole world. Just like God’s Son arrived here, so did you. And after Jesus arrived, God whispered to all of humanity . . . “It’s your move.” Heaven’s been leaning over the rails in the same way ever since you got here, waiting to see what you’ll do with your life.
A couple of the people you met in this book ended up making their next moves. Randy, the guy who taught me about what being with people is all about in Yosemite, now lives with his wife, Sandy, in Nevada and is still changing people’s lives with his organization, Doable Evangelism. Not long after he took a knee and proposed, Ryan married Kim and they now have two beautiful children and lead worship at a fantastic church in Orange County.
Two kids from one of those dark jail cell blocks ended up attending the Restore Leadership Academy. The first one of them graduated at the top of his class and the other has a reputation for being one of the friendliest kids on campus. I took the Chief Justice of Uganda’s Supreme Court to my office on Tom Sawyer’s Island at Disneyland and we dreamed about justice issues in Uganda. And after almost five years in Uganda, Two Bunk John applied to law school and plans to start next year. He won’t be sitting on any dean’s bench trying to get in; the schools will be fighting over him.
Kathy has lead an amazing life devoted to her family, the cause of injustice, and the abolition of modern-day slavery. Lehr’s Greenhouse Restaurant is out of business and I’m still looking for my red jeep. Richard and Adam each have BB guns and go out into the woods together; but they say they never shoot at each other. Yeah, right.
Since high tea in London, Lindsey has become that lovely woman I saw across the table when she was ten. Everyone in the family continues to stay connected with people in leadership around the world, and Don Miller, who taught me not to write the word that into my life, made a movie called Blue Like Jazz with a friend, Steve Taylor. Through his movie and books, including A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, and his Storyline Conferences, Don is continuing to show us how much room there is in the margins of our lives to scribble some notes.
I’m still practicing law and trying to live palms up. I hardly ever go sailing, but I travel to Uganda often to look for kids forgotten in jails and for bad guys who would hurt them. This year, we successfully brought to trial Uganda’s first case for trafficking in people against a witchdoctor—and won.
One last thing. I didn’t tell Doug I’d be writing a book and telling stories about him. I thought it would be a better prank if he heard it first from you.