Recently I have been very overwhelmed with the task that is at hand. Starting the fundraising process for my trip, figuring out logistics of life and supplies while I am away, finishing up my last semester of grad school, working, the list goes on and on, so I try and take advantage of what little down time I have. A few days ago I was in a child’s mood and was watching one of my favorite movies of all time, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Not the older version, but the newer one with Johnny Depp in it. I’ve watched that movie a hundred times, and can quote it backwards and forwards. However this time when I was watching it, a particular line that Grandpa George said nagged at me. Charlie mentions to the family about selling his ticket for money so that they could eat. That’s when Grandpa George chimed in with this, “There's plenty of money out there. They print more every day. But this ticket, there's only five of them in the whole world, and that's all there's ever going to be. Only a dummy would give this up for something as common as money. Are you a dummy?” Ouch Grandpa George.
It was almost like God was speaking directly to me.
Lately life has been an uphill battle. Seems like life has been throwing me this way and that, and I haven’t been able to grab hold of anything to hang on to. Plus I can’t say that I have had the best attitude about it. Often times I find myself wondering if this is the best path for my life. In our culture, most people my age are thinking about careers or getting married, starting a family with 2.5 children, a house with a white picketed fence, and a loyal dog named Lassie. Me, however, am not thinking about any of those things, except maybe the dog named Lassie.
And that sort of freaks me out a bit. Shouldn’t I be worried about these things? About the career, and the family, and Lassie.
Yet through Grandpa George (and through so many other instances), God keeps reminding me that this experience is a golden ticket. Not everyone is cut out for it. Not everyone is brave to truly encounter the harsh realties of this world. Yet the Lord gave this to me. He gave me, of all people, the heart to do such a things. The heart to be the change that I want to see in the world. To say forget what society is telling me to do, and to relentlessly chase after the kingdom. What is more important than that?
So I ask you, what is your golden ticket? What is the one thing that He is giving YOU the opportunity to do? It may not be as big as being a World Racer, but there is something. Don’t be a dummy and give it up for something that is much more common.
“This is my commitment to live up to the spirit that is in me.”
