I'm sure many of you have heard that punta
stic saying, "I was wondering why the Frisbee was getting bigger, then it hit me!"
Now let me paint the scene for you. It's June of my Senior year in high school. I have AP Calculus right after lunch every other day, but we've already taken the AP test and turned in the final required statistics project so there's not really anything to do. Our teacher decides to just take us outside for class since the weather was so nice. A few of us get together and start playing "Kan Jam" [simply explained, a game where you throw a Frisbee into a glorified trash can with a slot in it]. Things are going well and everyone is having fun! That is, until all of a sudden out of nowhere there's this loud thud with a pain shooting through my eye. Yes, that's right, "Then it hit me…" It all happened so fast, and the only explanation I have is that I must have just been gazing off into the distance, probably having an epiphany about the cure for cancer or something, but it was all lost when the Frisbee hit me directly in my right eye. The vision out of my eye went completely black for a second and then when it came back everything was blurry. Of course, being such a manly man as I am, I just chalked it up to my contact, it must have just moved to the back of my eye momentarily and I just told everyone "I'm fine!" So we carried on and my vision became clear again moments later after a little bit of rubbing my eye and playing with my contact.
I had band next so I walked to the band room and got out my cornet. Then I stood up and was greeted by one of my friends. He had a big smile on his face as usual, as soon as he turned to me I watched as his smile completely disappeared, and he said "Woah! Jon, are you alright? What happened?" I explained the story real quick trying to pass it off as nothing, wondering how he knew. He then turned to everyone else saying, "Look at Jon's eye!" Everyone was so shocked, but I still had no idea what was going on? Why did everyone seemed so shocked? I'm fine now, nothing's wrong!
I went over to look in a mirror and found out myself. The pupil of the eye that had been hit had shrunk to about the size of the tip of a pen! [alright, maybe not quite that small, but it was pretty close!] I was walking around with one pupil as big as always and the other, you could hardly see! I've got to admit, since I was still feeling fine I actually started to laugh! I figured I should go to the nurses office though just to be safe, and my band director didn't seem to have a problem with that either after he saw it. Fortunately the nurse just gave me an ice pack to hold on my eye and I went back to band and played with one eye [and lots of mistakes].
You may be wondering why exactly I'm telling you this story. It's because I had a very similar experience today, minus the Frisbee. With tomorrow being my last day at work before I leave for The World Race, I started to clean up my office. I started to take off all the pictures I had hung up, drawn by my sister, and once the wall in front of me was empty I stared at it for a second and then it finally hit me! I'm actually leaving the country for 11 months! I'm going to the nations to serve God, with only what I can carry on my back, which I am so excited about! I had been waiting for this moment when I finally realized what I'm doing, expecting to feel the pain I felt like when I got hit by the Frisbee, expecting to feel that disorientation and blindness, expecting to at least feel the nervousness and butterflies in my stomach I felt walking to the nurse hoping everything was going to be all right! But I felt none of that! If anything I'm just more excited! More excited to minister to the people, to pray for the people, to pour my love on the people, to serve the people, to show them someone cares and that there is hope found in Christ Jesus!
I realized I don't need to worry about anything! There's no need for me to feel the pain, blindness, nervousness, or disorientation at any part of this journey I am embarking on, not even the fundraising part. I have God! This Sunday after church, our songsters are singing a Christmas musical/cantata kinda thing. The last song is called "Do Not Be Afraid" and says,
"Do not be afraid, for the Lord our God has heard your cry.
You will be amazed, for his promises are hope and life.
There's no need to fear when our God is near."
And he is right here with all of us. There's nothing I can't do or should worry about with him by my side, and the same goes for anything you are dealing with in your life right now as well.
That all being said I am still in need of about $8,500 to be fully funded for my trip so I don't get sent home at any point and can minister to my fullest potential. Consider making a tax deductible donation today in my name to partner with me in this endeavor and let God use you to your fullest potential. Let this not only be "my" journey, but let it become "our" journey! Prayers are also just as important for me and everyone else on my team and squad!
Thanks so much for everything you are all doing to support me! May God bless you, especially through this Christmas season!
Merry Christmas!
