Since coming on staff at Adventures in Missions I’ve come to follow some blogs that inspire me. All of us in the office need some inspirational juice every once in awhile and we like to laugh and appreciate TRUTH. One of my favorites is this chick. She calls herself “Jamie the Very Worst Missionary.” She’s edgy. Shes offensive. Shes raw. I love her heart that shines through. I love her wit and sarcasm and I love her way of expressing the messiness that is missions. Shes not trying to church it up. Next time I’m in Costa Rica I want to have coffee with her. I think we’d be friends. I want to introduce you to her. Enjoy!
The
Law of Probability. (can bite me)
I tweeted this the other day…you
know…on Twitter:
know…on Twitter:
And I totally believed it when I left the house. I totally
believed, just like I do every
Tuesday, that I was gonna go to the precario and love on these
kids, play with them, hold them, feed them, and all that good stuff, and
then, because I showed up, their little lives would be changed
forever.
believed, just like I do every
Tuesday, that I was gonna go to the precario and love on these
kids, play with them, hold them, feed them, and all that good stuff, and
then, because I showed up, their little lives would be changed
forever.
Yes. I can be exceptionally dumb at
times.
times.
It’s funny that I think I can make a
difference. Laughable really. The real truth is that one stupid banana
per week and a hug from a white missionary lady is probably NOT
going to change anybody’s life.
difference. Laughable really. The real truth is that one stupid banana
per week and a hug from a white missionary lady is probably NOT
going to change anybody’s life.
No. The law of probability tells a
different story. It tells me that I’m probably not making a
bit of difference, and that…
different story. It tells me that I’m probably not making a
bit of difference, and that…
…she will probably
still be pregnant by the time she’s 14.
still be pregnant by the time she’s 14.
…he will probably be
a gang-banger when he grows up.
a gang-banger when he grows up.
…she
will probably lose that smile to Meth addiction.
will probably lose that smile to Meth addiction.
…he will probably end up in jail.
…she
will probably not go to school past the 6th grade.
will probably not go to school past the 6th grade.
…she will probably survive by selling
her body.
her body.
…he will probably abandon his
wife and children, just like his Dad did.
wife and children, just like his Dad did.
…Probably none of them will ever leave this prison
of poverty.
of poverty.
The law of probability says that none of these
kids will remember us, and…
kids will remember us, and…
...they probably won’t care that
we played with them.
we played with them.
….they probably will never know
how much we loved them.
how much we loved them.
…probably,
they’ll never know the power of their own love, or how it has
changed my life, changed me.
they’ll never know the power of their own love, or how it has
changed my life, changed me.
The poor kids in the precario will probably
never know about how they taught me
aaaall about the law of probability. Because the very same Law of
Probability that is trying so hard to hold them down, is the one that
says a wild child, knocked-up
at 17, and raised believing that all Christians were dumbasses will
never, ever, ever in a million years and a thousand lifetimes, fall in
love with Jesus and give up her lovely suburban life to hold urine
soaked 3 year olds in the slums of Costa Rica.
never know about how they taught me
aaaall about the law of probability. Because the very same Law of
Probability that is trying so hard to hold them down, is the one that
says a wild child, knocked-up
at 17, and raised believing that all Christians were dumbasses will
never, ever, ever in a million years and a thousand lifetimes, fall in
love with Jesus and give up her lovely suburban life to hold urine
soaked 3 year olds in the slums of Costa Rica.
I
don’t do math or anything (cause it gives me hives) but I’d
venture to say that it’s almost a statistical impossibility that I would
be living the life that I’m living today.
don’t do math or anything (cause it gives me hives) but I’d
venture to say that it’s almost a statistical impossibility that I would
be living the life that I’m living today.
So, basically, what
I’m getting at is, the Law of Probability can bite me.
I’m getting at is, the Law of Probability can bite me.
Because the laws
of Faith, Hope, and Love tell a different story.
of Faith, Hope, and Love tell a different story.
And I’m going to keep showing up
to prove it.
to prove it.
When I got home that day, I tweeted this:
…because when we arrived that day, the kids
swarmed us with so many hugs and kisses and
I-missed-you!-Where-have-you-been?’s you would have thought we’d been
gone a year and not a week. Or, you might have thought, as I did, “Good
God, how unlikely is this?! That a foreigner with
bad Spanish and a weak stomach could become beloved and missed to this
smelly bunch of ragamuffin babies!”
swarmed us with so many hugs and kisses and
I-missed-you!-Where-have-you-been?’s you would have thought we’d been
gone a year and not a week. Or, you might have thought, as I did, “Good
God, how unlikely is this?! That a foreigner with
bad Spanish and a weak stomach could become beloved and missed to this
smelly bunch of ragamuffin babies!”
And I had to remind
myself that “likelihood” and “probability” aren’t words that matter to
me anymore. It’s true, we may not be making a huge dent in
the War on Poverty, but we are totally kicking the
Law of Probability’s ass. And that’s a pretty good start…
myself that “likelihood” and “probability” aren’t words that matter to
me anymore. It’s true, we may not be making a huge dent in
the War on Poverty, but we are totally kicking the
Law of Probability’s ass. And that’s a pretty good start…
Your turn: What is your unlikely story?
