As I start the new school year in the morning, I am humbled by all that has led me to this point. So many people have helped in so many different ways that I can't even express in words how blessed I've been this past year. I realized that I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for people taking the time to pray for me, investing financially in my life and ministries, and being a listening ear or a kind touch when I was thousands of miles from the only family I've ever known. These people have shown kindness in a way that I wish to exemplify.
Needless to say, when I reflected on this last year, it made me think about something more pressing. What am I really doing to make a difference in the world in which I live? I'm not talking about the world as a whole- although that is important. I'm talking about the small section of the world that I call home right now. I thought, "I teach at a local school for underprivileged children", thinking that was good enough. Yet, when I really dissected my intentions, it wasn't good enough. Why am I teaching at Doulos and how much am I really serving there? What is my real mission there? Is it simply to give a good education in English so that the kids there have a better chance at a job and future?
I was hit with an understanding of my own arrogance. It's not about the perfect learning style or figuring out the best way to teach a child. It's about loving them and caring for them as an extension of the Lord. This hit me really hard this morning. My goals and intentions for last year were not good enough. They needed to be adjusted for this next year. I needed to see these children as more than another group of children that needed my English skills (which, ironically, have declined significantly in the last few months), but as blessings from the Lord that needed my eyes, mouth, arms, hands, and feet to be like that of the Lord Jesus. That's the only reason I should be at school. Education is great, don't get me wrong. But I had the priorities all mixed up. My desire for these children should be to see them love the Lord with a passion that is contagious. It's the only way that the area will be transformed. It's not me who will change things. It has to be the Lord.
Then I thought about the adults that are are a part of my life. Am I serving them the way that the Lord has designed me to serve? Am I selfish in the service that I do? How can I be Jesus to the people on base and in the community (outside of school)? I don't have all the answers yet. Not by a long shot! But I do know that things have to change. I'm praying that this year I can be His hands and feet to everyone that I touch. I ran across this great quote by Frederick Buechner:
-“The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt.”
It's the little things that we do for each other. Make them count!
