Earlier today, as I sat in a somewhat comfortable chair at a Starbucks(c), sipping Joy tea, listening to Jeff Goins (the director of marketing for Adventures in Missions), I gleaned quite a bit of encouragement and wisdom from this passionate and intelligent twenty-six year old.
Up until this year, it was rare for me to truly value the words of advice from people within my age group. It was not that I devalued people my own age on an individual basis, it was simply the lack of years we twenty-somethings have. It is not as though we have lived that long or have experienced enough to really be filled with wisdom. At least, that was my mentality.
But this year, which has been a year filled with Stateside adventures from my best friend’s wedding to really investing in my church’s homegroup to creating my own business to deciding to delay grad school and pursue God’s calling to be a part of The World Race, I have been blessed with a medley of friends in my age group as well as older friends.
All this to say that while sipping my tea, Jeff, who is just a few years older than me, helped to encourage me to go beyond the status quo. Which seems to be unavoidable when it comes to The World Race, but he made a good point in saying that there is a status quo in all contexts of life–both here in Nashville, when I am surrounded by the familiar and on the Race, surrounded by the unfamiliar. I had not thought about this before and now, a few hours later, I am intrigued by what Jeff said. He told me a story about his 15-day visit to a squad in Mexico a few years ago and how he and the people with him had a choice to implement the lessons learned earlier in the day when they met a woman on the side of the road.
Instead of stepping up and reaching out to this woman, they could have easily enjoyed a free afternoon to wander around the town, admire the architecture, or have fun with their contacts. But they did not. They chose to allow God to use them to impact this woman with kind words, water, and a meal. Jeff reiterated his previous point with, “God honors the risk-takers.” That day, a few years ago in a sun-drenched town in Mexico, Jeff took a risk. He could have easily walked away from the situation. He could have easily been selfish with his time. But he and his friends chose not to. They took a risk to reach out, be Jesus, and to love a complete stranger. I pray to be like Jeff this next year and to take risks not for my own glory, but Him and His glory.
