UPDATE:
I have met my first deadline of $5,000! Thank you so much for supporting me and loving me in this stage of preparation! I still have a long way to go, but I am tangibly seeing the Lord provide over and over again. Thank you for being a part of sending me to the nations.
This month, I am partnering with Go Rings, a jewelry company committed to supporting difference makers. They are giving me a percentage of their profit for the whole month of September when you choose my name at check out! If you love jewelry or know someone who does, check out their website to order: http://gorings.us/rings/
Now onto the blog…
I think I finally found a silver lining. In my last blog, I talked about how hard this season of waiting has been on me. I would rather be in College Station with my friends or fast-forward to January when I launch for the World Race. I didn’t want to be in this in-between for much longer. That was about two months ago and the Lord has been teaching me really important lessons that I will bring to the mission field. In that time, I took a road trip with my family, ended my summer job, and watched all of my friends go back to school or set up classrooms of their own. I sat on my parents’ couch and realized that I have more free time than I can ever remember having. I didn’t know what to do with myself! So I hopped in my car and went on my own road trip.
I drove through the Ozarks and visited a squadmate that is going on the World Race with me! It felt like we had known each other for so long. Our time together was both encouraging and motivating, as we both aspire to use our time well here in America. Then, I drove north to Missouri and visited my friend of nine years. I met her community and participated in her ministry. I often caught myself thinking, “I am so thankful I could be here on a Wednesday and see her day to day life.” I was so grateful to get away, clear my head, and spend quality time with my person.
How often in life do you find yourself with an abundance of free time? I realize that this life style is not at all realistic or sustainable. We all have school, regular work hours, kids, and commitments. We take pride in how busy we are. We brag over our color coded, over flowing planners. When people ask us how we are doing, we respond “oh just busy” as if it were an emotional state we can’t escape from. Here’s the thing, people. Jesus was never too busy for people. He never said, “Man, I would love to sit here and love you, but I have 5,000 people to feed!” Jesus was interruptible.
In Mark 5, we meet a man by the name of Jairus. His daughter is on the verge of death and he falls at Jesus’ feet for help. Now, I am not sure what Jesus had planned to do with his day. I don’t know what his color-coded planner held, but he went with Jairus without another word. Jesus had a huge crowd around him as they left for Jairus’ home. This is the type of crowd that makes me anxious. It is the Kyle Field crowd of the first Fighting Texas Aggie home game of the season. You are tightly packed into this crowd and so many people brush by you that you lose track.
Well, Jesus felt something different when one of many brushed by him. He felt power go out of him. This made him stop and ask, “Who touched my garments?” He stops the crowd to find out whom he had just healed. Just as a reminder, Jairus’ daughter’s life is still on the line. Jesus stops and speaks to a woman so tenderly. She has been bleeding for years on end, considered unclean by her people. She shouldn’t even be near Jesus, much less touch him! Yet, in her faith, she took the chance to touch his robes and she was healed. Jesus, caring for her heart, does not harm her like society expected. He calls her “Daughter.” He took the time to love this woman of faith so well, once again, interrupting his day.
While Jesus was speaking to the woman, Jairus is informed his daughter is already dead and to not trouble the Teacher, Jesus, anymore. Jesus didn’t skip a beat. He just healed a woman right in front of Jairus, and yet these people are telling him that he is too late for Jesus to save his daughter. Jesus said, “Do not fear, only believe.” Jesus saves Jairus’ daughter, for he says she was only sleeping. He says, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”
Jesus was interruptible that day, as he always is. He knew that the bleeding woman needed him, so he took the time to care for her. Do you find yourself in the place of Jairus? You have urgency about your day; you are a man on a mission. Whether that mission is to save your daughter’s life or to finish an assignment for work in time, how do you think you would react to an interruption?
I am in this unique position to allow myself to be interruptible. I can drive out of my way to love people well. I can meet people where they are at any given time. I can be in Missouri on a Wednesday, just because I feel like it. It wasn’t always that way. If you knew me at all in the past eight years, I have been Jairus. I had my color-coded planner so full I had to add sticky notes on top. No one could even look me in the eye as I ran to the library to finish lesson plans. I could not be interrupted. I did not allow myself to take opportunities to love others well.
No matter which camp you are in, too much free time or none at all, I am learning that there is a healthy balance. Someone I look up to recently introduced me to the concept of “margin” in your life. Margin is the white space on your page; free time with nothing planned. It allows you to be interruptible. You need to run some errands, but a friend is calling for some quality time? You take that time and love your friend well. Target can wait until your margin time.
Jesus made time for people. He is the ruler of time. Unfortunately, you don’t rule time. You do, however, have the power to open up your life and plan for the unplanned. You have the power to be interruptible.
