A meaningful life
I wasn’t happy with my typical life. I wanted more. I dreamed about mission trips, travel, and living a radical life for God. I was sick of the American dream and I wanted something different. Yes I needed a change; but not the change I expected.
I began to hate the typical American life. I hated all our conveniences, our electronics, our idea of normal. So I looked into missions. I saw photos of people holding hungry orphans and loving on blind beggars. I read blogs about the sick being healed and lives being changed. I heard about souls being saved. I was consumed with the idea of the race, and it was the life I wanted. So I signed up got accepted and 6 months and 12 thousand dollars later here I am in tacloban, Philippines. And let me tell you its not what it’s made out to be.
Yes I get to hold the fatherless and feed the hungry. I get to rebuild what a typhoon destroyed. I get to serve with and love on people who live halfway across the world from my home. But it’s just normal life. Granted a few things have changed. For example we have multiple mice and rat friends living in our home along with multiple ant colonies and even the occasional lizard. I also frequently run out of water, get but by ants and I am ALWAYS sweating. The list goes on an on. But just because I am on a mission trip does not mean that what I am doing is anymore important than what you are doing. Who says that the child I love on at an orphanage needs it more than your neighbor? Who says that the work I’m doing here is more important than the work being done by my sister at home.
The truth is I did need a change but just not the one I expected; I needed a change of perspective.
Quite honestly god doesn’t care where you are. He’s doesn’t see one town as more valuable or love worthy than another. He doesn’t care if your a waitress or a plumber or even a missionary. Truthfully he only cares about your heart. He created us to live intentional and thoughtful lives where we love and care for those he has placed around us.
Its funny how it took me going halfway across the world for me to realize that I can live a radical life for God no matter where I am.
Living a radical life for God doesn’t mean going on mission trips or selling all of your possessions and giving to the poor. It means listening to whatever it is God is calling you to do and doing it. It means loving on every person you meet wether you like them or not. It means stepping out of your comfort zone when you feel He is leading you to. It means listening to his voice everyday all day. And it means having a personal relationship with him.
The sooner you realize this the better because here I am on the worldrace. A trip that is made out to be much more than it really is. It’s just like normal life. Instead of a job and school I have construction, feedings and cleaning. Instead of America I have the Philippines. Instead of family I have a squad…which is harder to live with than you would think. But one thing is still the same, you still have to be intentional. I could go on a hundred feedings and play with hundreds of street children but if my heart wasn’t in it, it would be useless.
Living a radical life for God means doing what he says when he says it. For some that may be missions for some that may be adoption and for some that may mean staying in your home town; but it is the way you do these things that make your life worth living.
