It’s such a common phrase. Something so obvious to avoid acts of stupidity. Think before you act. As a human being, I make mistakes. I’ve made more mistakes than I can count. I’m constantly making mistakes–some that I probably don’t even realize. I’m stating it as fact; nothing to beat myself up over. I know that God’s already forgiven me.
I want to tell a story of a time that I almost forgot to think before I acted but caught myself. I volunteer with the pre-school kids at my church. I absolutely love and adore being around them but it’s not easy. One of the hardest part is knowing how to deal with misbehavior. I’m not a teacher. I’m not a parent. I see these kids once a month.
One day, I had about 5-6 children and was the only adult in the room. We typically start with a story. I had the kids sit down, and one of the girls decided to immediately wander off and play with toys. This didn’t surprise me; she’s done this before.
I had a few options here:
- I could exert authority and tell her that it was time to listen to the story with the others kids and that we could play with toys later. This is usually my initial reaction but it takes a lot of repetition and effort for her to finally listen.
- I could ignore it and just let her play. Easiest route considering all of the other kids were watching me.
- I could tell her that she would lose her privilege to play with toys later.
I took a deep breath, and this time, instead of immediately reacting, I took a moment and asked God, What would you like me to say to her? His truth spoke so clearly at that moment. To be more specific, what came to my head was, Who do you know me as? And my gut reaction, translated into words, was, You want us to be part of your family. To feel accepted into it.
I walked up to her and said something along the lines of, We are going to listen to a story over there and we would really like for you to join us. Can you put the toys away and join us? We really want you to be with us.
It took two seconds for her to start picking up the toys. I was completely awed at how effective that was–to simply acknowledge her importance. Her worth.
I want this to be a small example of my everyday interactions. To lift every moment up to Him and ask what truths to express in every situation. I will tell you one thing–it’s not. I have good days and bad days. He feels more present throughout some days more than others. Sometimes I get distracted. I don’t always think before I act but I’m slowly chucking away at it. I hope you are too.
Quick Fundraising Update
It’s the beginning of December, which means ONE month until departure. 15 days until I quit my job. 19 days to reach my second deadline of $7500. 16 days to get online donations in. 5 days to get checks in. Roughly $300 to raise for this deadline but praying to go above and beyond, so I don’t have to worry about it while I’m on the field.
T-shirts: It’s not too late! I ordered 50 t-shirts last Monday, with a little over 30 pre-orders and at least 10 more interested after I placed the order. I may try to place a second order to get some other extra sizes as soon as I distribute the first set of shirts, so please let me know if you missed my original messages and still want one!
In the season of thanksgiving (which should be all the time!), I want to thank my 70+ donors and many, many more individuals for thinking of me, praying, partnering, reading, and just an overall shower of support. There are far and few situations that I get to be a part of that allows me trust, witness, and be completely humbled by the generosity of so many people. I thank you all for that.
