I had another big delivery over the last couple of days. This time, I was able to drive out to Tyler, Texas, a place that I spent three of my college summers doing summer camp. When the option came available, I jumped at the idea because I thought there was no shot at making a visit out there this summer. Since this was a delivery, I was only going to get a night out there, but just getting a chance to go out and visit was worth it for me. So the next couple of blogs will be about the people I met along the way and the 14 plus hours I spent in the car.
My first stop was for dinner at pretty much the only fast food place I’ll eat at, Sonic. There’s just something about the drinks and having a Cherry Limeade with easy ice that makes the fact that it’s fast food ok with me. Anyway, I pushed that big red button, made my order, and waited for someone to skate up to my window with that larger than necessary, yet still able to fit in the cup holder, Route 44 Cherry Limeade. The rest of the order didn’t even matter. I was looking through some of my e-mails and didn’t even notice the girl skating up to my window. Good for me she caught my attention by slamming (probably a little extreme of a word) into the side of my car, obviously not yet familiar with the break technique and the process of carrying food on skates. The car was a rental, surely it would be ok.
I rolled down the window to this little girl that may have been a little flustered and uncomfortable, but still sporting a big smile. She gave me my food and heaven in a cup (or tub depending on how you look at it) and tried to read off my order. It was pretty apparent she hadn’t learned all the shorthand of those receipts, and I had to laugh as she tried to vocally figure them out. She finally made eye contact with me and was using her go to response of just laughing it off. Madison apologized for the car and butchering the order and told me it was her first week there. Now it all made sense. I asked her if this was her first job and she told me yes. Don’t know how I guessed that one.
It was about to be her senior year of high school and her parents wanted her to have a summer job to teach her about responsibility and money management. I asked her what she thought about spending her summer at the local Sonic and she told me that it wasn’t her favorite idea, but it was going to be nice to go into her senior year with her own money. I guess there are times when we have to make sacrifices to get the things we want. I asked her what she wanted to do with the money and she said she didn’t know yet. I also asked her what she wanted to do when she finished high school, and she didn’t know the answer to that one either. Finally, i just had to ask Madison what she dreamed about doing with her life. Just changing that one word from goals to dreams, brings a totally different answer. People rarely make goals from their dreams because they lack the confidence that dreams are actually meant to be lived out instead of just thought about. This always changes the conversation.
So with this job, Madison has goals of learning responsibility, money management, and budgeting, but why? Just to be a good person? To become well rounded? We set these goals and challenges for ourselves like our biggest dream is to be a good person and a good steward. While this is a great goal and we need to learn these things, I have two thoughts on this. First, the Bible says there is no one good but Jesus, and this side of heaven that is one goal we will never attain. That’s why grace exists. The second is there’s no exterior action behind that goal. Our Great Commission wasn’t to, “Go and BE a Disciple,” that was assumed. It was to, “Go and MAKE Disciples.” Our dreams are our answers as to what role we will play in making disciples.
Think about it. If your dream is to be a mother to the orphaned, then go and make disciples through nurturing and building a home. If your dream is to be an entrepreneur, then go and make disciples as you come up with solutions to problems. If your dream is to be a country music star, then go and make disciples as you sing about things that matter. If your dream is to work your job and provide a great environment for your family, then go and make disciples by crushing the idea of the comfortable “American dream” while living it. Whatever it is, your dreams are what define your role in this bigger picture that is the kingdom of heaven. Will you have to make sacrifices like work at Sonic to learn money management and budgeting? Absolutely. But the big question is why are you doing it?
Our goal should never be to arrive at death safely as a responsible adult. Our goal should be to pick up the virtues of responsibility and good stewardship (and the rest) along the way of getting those dreams out of our heads and onto our path. Madison would love to be a teacher one day. She wants to decorate her own classroom and welcome her kids in every morning. That’s why she needs to learn responsibility and money management. So she can teach her students.
