This goes out to my fellow Racers to read, living life and investing in people on the field all over the world.
One day I was in a nicer African church service sitting on the ground and I was watching all the shoes around me as children stood around reciting verses for the church congregation. And there I spotted them. Nicely worn-in but not shabby red Converse high-tops.
Now here’s something you should know about me: I have long wanted a pair of either black or red or yellow or white Converse, (high-top or not, I’ve never decided) nicely worn in without me doing so. That rugged I-want-to-look-like-a-skateboarder-even-though-I-don’t-know-how look. Or that running-around-like a-crazy-kid kind of look. Or whatever. It doesn’t matter, anyways, this kid’s shoes caught my eye. Mainly because he was the only kid facing the wrong direction and all I saw were his shoes. There he stood, and eventually he turned the same direction as the rest of the kid’s. It’s funny because while the other kids were wearing nicer churchy shoes, he was wearing them red Converse. He stood out.
Now I’m just blabbin’. Oops.
(Now here’s some more unrelated blabber, but it’ll all tie together later, you’ll see.)
We as a human race are always attracted to those good stories. We like going to the movies and watch the hero or heroine crawl out from their tiny space of ordinary life into the extravagance of true living. It’s a process of freedom from fear. And it’s so attractive to us ordinary folk. But in all truth, we’re the heroes and heroines craving for the adventure of a lifetime. We have an innate desire for adventure, to change something, be inspiring, and save the world from destruction. Don’t tell me I don’t know or that it’s not true. I see you standing in front of your mirror making faces, quoting movies, and actions copying the actors on the screens. Or maybe it’s just me, but don’t say so.
I tend to associate important stand out main characters as red worn-in Converse kind of people. (I don’t know entirely why, so don’t ask.) So when I saw this kid in his own little red worn-in Converse, I thought, “Huh, he must be a character. Someone somebody would make a movie about their super cool life. And this is only the beginning.”
As I’ve been on the Race, I’ve seen red worn-in Converse kind of people through entertainment I’ve viewed in my free time. I read Donald Miller’s book A Million Miles In A Thousand Years. I watched Divergent. I watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. What do each of these have in common, you ask? They each have a character that wants something more, but are afraid of the unknown. Then one day, they jump into the person they wanted to be all along despite fear and they chase life. They became daring, brave, adventurous, and begin to truly live.
I know, I’m still not making ANY sense, what does all this have to do with ANYTHING. GET TO THE POINT ALREADY. WHAT’S THIS GOT TO DO WITH YOU?!
A’ight, I hear ya. I’m sorry, I’m gettin’ there.
(I KNOW. I frustrate myself sometimes! WHERE AM I EVEN GOING WITH THIS.)
Back to shoes: You can’t just get into already worn-in shoes. (Unless, of course, you bought that as a hand me down kind of thing. But stick with me please.) If you want them, you buy them new. And you break them in until they fit your foot, and you wear them everywhere on all kinds of adventures. If you buy them used, then you didn’t actually live in them. You didn’t live the adventures those shoes have been in.
I don’t know about you, but I want to live. And I don’t want to just live, I want to live well with adventure and intention. I want to live a good story.Sometimes I wish I could already say the adventures I’ve been on and the stories behind the scars, but I have to live them first. You can’t jump in to a worn-in story, you live your own.
But so often we miss life, ya know? We zone out just like Walter Mitty did before he finally adventured. We think about other things. We get busy just trying to keep up with life happening around us. Life is too short to live a small gray piece of paper kind of life.
Let me tell you something: Don’t do me, ‘kay? This past month of ministry I have been in my own world. Zoned out. Thinking about other things. Not fully present into what I was doing. Letting my team do the dirty work and me be a bystander. Resting and spending time alone while the rest of my team hung out without me. Bored, in a sense, with ministry and my life. Not WOWed about life. I can’t even say why, it just hasn’t been me. I hate that I let life get away from me and did not invest more here. I can’t believe I let fear hold me back, or feelings of inadequacy detour me from my calling. I did not embrace every moment. I didn’t sit down every day to listen to what God had to say to me. I did not truly live. And I am ashamed.
Fellow Racer, or reader: this is, almost, a call to “YOLO.” I want you to live like you won’t live tomorrow. Have that important conversation. Hug that person one more time. Invest in that individual while they’re in front of you. Keep loving those kids at that ministry location, you may not see them tomorrow or ever again. You only have that moment. Don’t let fear hold you back from any decision, that one time deal that you’re only in that country once. I want you to live in your own shoes and break them in. Break into your own life yourself and live your own adventures. Embrace your life and invest in others. Be free.
So go on and live in your shoes.
