So Mac, you thought it’d be funny to just rip off the whole “Really!?!” sketch from Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update? Really? You thought this would be something people would want to read? Really? You didn’t think it was a cheap attempt to try and be clever? At all? Really?
Alright, alright…you got me. But I’m chuckling to myself about the whole thing, so I’m going with it. (Hopefully over the next year I’ll make good use of the “Really!?!” series now and again.)
Here we go…
So I signed up for a year of mission work. To serve others for a whole year. Really!? I have decided to give a year of my life to the idea that others are more important than I am. Really!? I think I’m capable of that? For an entire year? Really!? I’ve decided to intentionally give, to meet the needs of others even if my own needs aren’t met? For a year? Really!!?
I thought it would be a good idea to be homeless for a year? Really!? To not bathe regularly? To go to bed dirty and stinky? Really!? To live without air conditioning, ice or free refills? For a year? Really!?
I’ve decided to be unable to clearly communicate with people in foreign countries on a regular basis? People who I need to rely on? Really!? I thought it would be a good idea to risk my own well being for that of others? And people I don’t even know at that? Really!? I thought that this is what God called me to? And having a hint of all that it involved I chose to do it? Really? Really!?!
It’s all so crazy. At what point did I think any of this was a good idea? I don’t know…but I do know my heart longs for all of this. Free refills or no. Showers or no. Uncertainty, unpredictibility and whatever else may come. My heart longs to serve Christ this way. I honestly believe He has called me to this, specifically, and I’m answering.
Am I prepared to serve for a year? I mean, to be intentional about putting others before myself? And not just in a, “I try to do that the best I can everyday, usually” kind of way. But in a, “really doing it” kind of way. Am I really prepared to do that? I mean, am I really prepared to do that every single day? Because my heart tells me that’s what I am really signing up for, and that it won’t be anywhere close to as glamorous as I tell myself it will be.
Am I honestly willing to intentionally give up my own life for a year and live as though the life of everyone else I meet is more important than my own? To put their needs first? Even if my own are ignored. For days? Am I really willing to sacrafice like that?
I don’t know. I don’t know the answers to those questions. I do know that I want to be the kind of man that lives like that. That sees people as so valuable, so worthwhile, that they are worth everything I have to offer. And that as a man of Christ, I’ll help take care of them, and trust God to take care of me. I want to be that kind of man.
I don’t feel like I am. I’m starting to be a little afraid of what I’ve gotten myself into. But again, my heart longs for this. So this is my starting point. God help me.
God help me? Really!? I was that cliche? Really?
Really.
(And thanks for reading you guys! Your support and encouragement really are phenominal! I love you guys!! Really!?! Really.)
