My eyes are closed, and my lips are pinched shut by a little Thai girl who is sitting in my lap. My mind goes blank. What am I supposed to do?
Almost immediately, I start to blow as hard as I can through the gaps of my lips, and I am utterly embarrassed; I am surrounded by my teammates, and I am making fart sounds with my mouth. How am I going to save my ego from this mortifying event?
But then the most joyous and unfettered laugh erupts from the girl’s mouth. There is something so unrestrained, so pure and so honest in her laugh. I begin to think of the number of times in my life that I have encountered these moments: not many. That was when I began to cherish the gift of this little angel’s giggles.
That is what I needed today. Recently the Lord has been revealing the importance of and obedience in humility. Sometimes you have to make a complete fool of yourself in order to bring the most joy to the situation. Sometimes you have to choose to give up your status for the sake of another brother or sister in Christ. Sometimes you have to make a farting sound with your mouth to bring joy to a face that has been saved from a life of pain. Sometimes the Lord is simply waiting for you to let go of that thing that has been preventing you from becoming fully immersed in the complete healing of the Lord.
“Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” – Philippians 2:3-4
Because that is when you know you prefer others in humility for Christ: when you choose to give up your personal status in order to help those around you. I know that is was a very small act of humility, but I believe that the Lord was allowing me to practice this in a smaller situation, preparing me for this World Race.
“Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.” – Ezra T. Benson
There are so many times I can reflect on my life where my number one priority had been myself; constantly checking to make sure that I am not making a fool of myself so that my status would remain untainted. But then I came to this children’s home in Thailand, and I cannot count the amount of silly and crazy things that I have done in order to entertain and encourage these children of the Lord. Their limited resources are used to serve us World Racers, and their hearts for service constantly amaze me. I thought I was there to serve them.
That girl’s laugh will forever ring in my head as a reminder to daily lose myself for the Lord.