Suzanne is the kind of friend you don’t take for granted.
I’ve never, since the moment I met her, had to wonder if she cared about me. And that’s how she is with every person she meets. If you know her, I am probably wasting my time trying to put this into words. You already know.
A generous friend, she frequently supported me while I worked at a non-profit raising my salary, even when she had very little. She is the person the widow in Mark 12 reminds me of: “Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’”
She’ll be gone for eleven months.
I … I haven’t come to terms with this yet. I started crying as I wrote that. Eleven months. It’s such a long time to be away from one of my dearest friends.
But Suzanne will be away from all of her friends, except the new ones she’ll undoubtedly be making every step of the way. That has to be scary, especially for someone like Sue, who values relationship above all else. That’s what I mean about her going all in. This is a huge risk.
And it means she has to offer for financial donations, something difficult for anyone to do. Besides the fact that she has to raise $15,500 by January, she has to have $3,500 of it by this weekend. (That’s another thing you probably already know about Suzanne: She is a last-minute kind of girl. She had her interview nine days before orientation starts. But I fully believe the money will come in for her in time. Because people believe in her.)
Honestly, I don’t know much of anything about Adventures in Mission, the organization she’ll be working with. I just know that Suzanne is excited about the opportunities to love people it will offer.
And, frankly, I don’t need to know another thing about it. I support Suzanne. And she believes this is the right next step in her life.
I suppose I’m writing this post because I need to start processing her trip for myself. But also because I want to support her. I don’t have a lot to give her financially. But I can offer her my love, and I can call on my friends to do the same. So, please, keep her in your thoughts and prayers this coming week at her orientation, and during her trip, which begins in January 2012.
If you would like to give financially, fill in “Suzanne Hofer” as the participant’s name at this website: http://adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=worldrace.