I am not just a TOE DIPPER

One thing I have known about myself for a while is that I thoroughly enjoy a challenge. I enjoy pushing myself past the limit that “normal people” would. However, I did not actually enjoy all of the challenges I have put myself through like going to school all those years or running a full marathon. Well, I learned to like them, but it did not start off that way. I knew myself well enough to know that if I did not just cannon ball into the deep end of the pool, I would not have even tried to accomplish those goals. I would have let them sit on a shelf in my mind, collecting dust, only to cross my thoughts in daydreams. Over the past year it has become more and more clear to me that I am not just a “toe dipper.” (thank you for pointing that out Rachael!) That is simply not my style. That is why I chose to go on the World Race. 

I chose to completely strip myself of everything I knew and had to start a new life. A life that was more like Christ. I know, I know, I said the phrase that makes a lot of people shiver: “life like Christ.” There are so many bad connotations associated with these types of phrases, however I have been learning that phrase is completely different than I ever knew it to be.

I realized that this life does not mean I am turning into a nun (no offense to nuns). It is like this: praise does not have to be in a church on kneelers on Sunday morning, but can be appreciating a sunset or how the stars have been painted in the sky so very perfectly. It is the understanding that just testing the waters is not good enough anymore. That getting a running start, closing your eyes, jumping in, SPLASHING, and making enough waves for everyone to see is the best way to live. It is the refreshing realization that whether you are a mess or in a good place, God will meet you there. It is being more aware of the decisions I am making in my life and whether they are good or just selfish. It is striving to be a better version of me.

I was asked before I went on the trip, how can you actually make a difference in just a month’s time? If I am being honest, I had that same concern. How can anyone change a life, a ministry site, a city, a country, in just 30 days? The amazing lesson I have learned is that I am not going to change the entire world (that was a devastating lesson to learn I must add). The beauty in my mission trip is that if I can make one child smile, pray over one sick person, cook one meal for a family, hoe one field, it makes all the difference to them. We often times think changes look a certain way, but what if they sound like a child giggling or look like a family giving praise over a house built for them? 

The amazing people I have had the privilege of meeting thus far have been more grateful for the work we have done in a month, than I have been for most things in my life. They are not concerned with their next trip to the mall or if they are going to get their $5 Starbucks in on their way to work. Their hearts are full of compassion for the Lord and for the work they do. They have housed us, fed us, worshiped with us, and taught us more than we could have wished or imagined.

For all of this I am asking you to RECONSIDER. Reconsider what you thought was important. Reconsider going out to eat for one night. Reconsider going to Starbucks in the morning. Reconsider that new t-shirt. Reconsider how you can make a change. I still have $1,800 left to raise by November. If you have not donated, please reconsider. If you have not read my blogs, please take the time, because I want you to be a part of my journey. If you have only dipped your toe, consider cannon balling…

 “Lend me your eyes, I can change what you see, but your soul you must keep totally free. In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die. The way you invest your love, you invest your life.”
                                 – Mumford and Sons