This past week, I took my youth group to a beautiful little city called Sugar Hill, GA. In my last post, I talked a good talk about feeling like God could continue to use me despite my station in life, and I believed it, but let me tell you... I had a really messed up mindset about it. He could use me later, or He could use me with some adjustments, or He could use me if...
And I went to Georgia with a crappy attitude.
Oh, I thought it would be a good week. But I felt a little negative about the logistics. It didn't seem like the registration process was very organized. I had apparently missed some communication from the project coordinator. One of the other adults with me was very skeptical, and I let that get to me. But overall, my entire outlook was very self-centered: "This is something I can do to help someone else, so I can forget about all my problems." ....emphasis on forgetting my problems.
Then, the first night, we had a crew meeting. My crew chief was a man named John, and he quickly told us that the information he received wasn't organized, and that he was struggling with some of it. The house we would work on would be huge; we might not finish. He was not very personable, and might come off as gruff. And we would be painting.
"GREAT!" I thought. "God has a sense of humor! He puts the least serious person of all time with this staunch crew chief with a military background on a job we might not finish; painting. I hate painting. I have painted all summer." I worried about it all night.
Then, something amazing happened. When we met up the next morning for the send-off with our crews, my chief greeted me with a "good morning," and we connected over SEC football. "Ok," I thought. "He may be uber serious, but he's a football fan. We have a common thread."
As I learned more about my crew, the 12 of us had more in common than I could imagine. We were from across 3 states.. Arkansas, Louisiana, and Alabama.. and we were split between 4 teams: Tigers, Razorbacks, Tide, and Gators. We had 2 15 yr olds who wanted to be doctors. We had 4 14-15 year olds who play football. We had 2 teachers and a crew chief who's mom had been a teacher. We had a cheerleader, a mascot, and a cheer coach. A pastor, a youth minister, and 2 adult volunteers who had no kids on the trip. We had 2 kids from 2 states who lived with grandparents. We all loved the same music. We were all baseball fans. We were an incredible team. "Hey! God DID know what he was doing here!"
We worked together from the first moment like a well-oiled machine. And at the end of day 1, we were 3/4 finished with our mammoth project with 3 days left to work.
As I talked with the homeowner, and the neighborhood kids, I realized that God was using me to touch them right then. Not after I had gotten through the divorce, not after I had some time to correct my reputation, and not after a million other things, but right now.
And then, I spoke with John. Remember our super serious crew chief? The one that I just KNEW I would never get along with?
When he was 29, his wife walked out the morning after a huge life event. Sound familiar? Yet even so, he raised his son to be, from what he told me, a fantastic young man. He played Jesus in the church play. He ministered to others on mission trips. He worked. He built a life. He was "ok." He has never remarried, but he is content. I learned that his serious personality is not indicative of the joy he has in his heart and the love and selflessness he has for others.
Huh. A living, breathing, example of how God wants to use me.
And then, my world was changed. I know World Changers is about changing the world for Christ...
My crew did just that... even for me. < 3
No comments:
Post a Comment