A Life of Trivial Moments

Our breakfast routine every day includes reading a chapter or two in a missionary biography.  I think the Christian Heroes Then and Now series by Jane and Geoff Benge is truly the best out there.  It's one thing for Mama to think a book is wonderful, but when every child in the family begs...yes, BEGS me to read "just one more chapter...PLEASE," you know it's the good stuff. 

Why?  Why do they we love these books?  Well, for one, they are exciting.  And two, they give an amazing view of lives lived in the faith realm...that place where God's hand moves so very obviously.   To be honest, these true accounts of the lives of real people make this comfortable American lifestyle look could-I-possibly-yawn-any-louder boring.  We live well-planned, well-maintained, well-stocked, well-orchestrated, well-everything lives.  And in all the cushiony comfort, we miss the hold-onto-the-edge-of-your-seat-this-is-going-to-be-an-amazing-ride kind of life that we could have.  

Don't believe me?  Then I challenge you to ask God straight-up what He wants to do through you.  And get still enough to listen.  And when that crazy thought comes into your mind, take a step into it.  Warning: it will most likely NOT make sense.  And it will not be easy.  But trust Him enough to step.  You'll never regret it.  In fact, I'd go as far as to say that once you've tasted the walking-on-thin-air faith thing, you'll be bored if you stop.  

So, anyway, we are currently reading the biography of Ida Scudder.  What...you've never heard of her?!  Me either.  But I'm getting to know her, and I like her.  A lot.  See...Ida didn't set out to become a missionary.  In fact, she said multiple times that she'd never ever become a missionary.  She was mischievous and fun and high-spirited.  She had a strong personality and a mind of her own...the type that was told women shouldn't wear flowers in their hats, so she loaded her hat up with as many flowers as she could possible shove into it.  No, she wasn't what we'd typically think of as missionary material.      

Her parents were missionaries in India, and she absolutely hated the death she had seen on the streets in India when she had been there.  So, as an adult, she vowed never to return to India.  And she adored her American lifestyle.  Then one night she realized that all the things she had been focusing on (fashion, wardrobe, comfortable life) didn't seem important to her any more as she saw the immense need in India.  She sat there thinking of how she would spend her time deciding between a satin skirt and a velvet dress.  And the pointlessness of it all hit her.  She asked a question that begs to be asked of my life also: Am I going to live a life full of trivial moments?  

 Pouring your life out doing whatever God puts into your heart and mind will radically shift things.  I suppose it all has to do with the way God has wired us to feel good when we give.  He tells us that in giving we receive, and once you give selflessly, you realize it's true.  And this giving/receiving phenomenon, coupled with the living-by-faith thing has made me crave a life lived outside the typical American lifestyle.  I tell God all the time that I'd be fine in a hut in Africa with a dozen orphans...or on the streets in Taiwan where I could teach English to at-risk children...or in India pouring His love and healing into those who have been rescued from human trafficking.  My list goes on.  My dreams always revolve around this type of lifestyle.  These things all float inside me, sometimes making me quite restless.  I crave a life poured out.  I believe He's given me this desire for a purpose.  In fact, I believe He's orchestrating every detail of my life, even the things I feel are unfair and difficult, to prepare me for a life lived on the edge and way outside the comfort zone.  And I can see a point in time when I will have open doors to do those cross-cultural things in areas of the world where the need is so intense.

And for now, this is a piece of the pie that I am tasting.  This is where our family spent this afternoon.  It's one of Hill Country Daily Bread Ministry's warehouses.   HCDBM is a beautiful ministry that serves the needy in Texas Hill Country.  It is where God has placed us in this season of our lives, and we do indeed love it.

Today the 3 youngest children and I bagged rice for next week's food distribution.  While they worked, T said, "Mama, this is really fun.  And it's not just fun...we are actually helping people by doing this."  How delicious it is to actually taste the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive!  Really...it's one of those upside-down things about God's economy.  We give to receive.  Weird, right?  But true. 

Does this look fun or what?  This was our get-the-bag-out-of-the-box-and-hand-it-to-brother girl.  She rocked her job, as you can see.  She seriously did this for 2 hours and loved it.  I guess the give/receive principle works on all ages.

The boys measured out each bag of rice to be 2 pounds.  I could totally get off on a real-world-math tangent here, but I'll spare you.  :) 

Then we added the filled bags to the large bin of rice.  We bagged over 200 pounds of rice today, which will be used in next week's food distribution among 8 counties in Texas Hill Country.  It was nice to be a part of this.  It wasn't a big work, but as Mother Teresa said, we can all do small things with great love.

HB helped with inventory today.  

And the men worked with heavier projects.

I absolutely understand the question Ida Scudder asked herself.  What kind of life am I going to live?  Will I spend this one life focusing on trivial, self-absorbed things, or will I choose to live in the upside-down, way-outside-the-box, makes-no-sense-to-the-world realm?  

Now, don't get me wrong.  I love having fun.  Sometimes the agenda of the day leads us places like the Texas State Fair, where we get some time to enjoy being together with grandparents and cousins...not to mention doing some pretty cool things and eating some seriously sugar-loaded treats.  I grab my camera and go to town, thoroughly enjoying all the fun.

Any and every moment can be used to love others and to give of ourselves...whether we are in a safe house in India or at a state fair in Texas.  But, at the end of each day, no matter what has happened...fun, rough, happy, sad, frustrating, whatever...I still go to bed the same me.  I would be just as content in that African hut with orphans crawling all over me as I am at the state fair with my mouth full of cotton candy.  Probably more content.  

Because when I give I receive.

I just don't want to miss it.  Life is so distracting with its endless supply of trivial moments.  I want to love with reckless abandon, even when it's not easy.  I want to give selflessly, even when it hurts.  I want to actually believe what God tells me and walk in that amazing faith realm, even if I'm the only person on the planet who walks that road.  I want to answer no to Ida Scudder's question: Am I going to live my life full of trivial moments?