When I was fifteen, I
went on my first overseas mission trip. There were about 10 of us, from what I
remember, who, along with three leaders, spent two weeks in the north of Portugal. During
that time, we participated in a teenagers’ camp, helped run a holiday club in a
village, visited an orphanage and some local churches and ran an outreach service on the
beach.
When I told people that I was going (good, Christian people), it often felt like they wanted to do a double take and ask, “what can a 15-year-old do?” Most of them didn’t say it out loud, but it seemed
like that was what they thought. And maybe a little of rubbed off on me. I was a scared
teenager – scared of travelling, scared of speaking in front of others, scared
of being away from home, scared of big cockroaches. What could I do?
When I grow up...when I have more money, I'll start giving it to people who need it. When I get married, I'll start having more people round for dinner. When I have a stable job, I'll start figuring out what I really love doing. When I have kids, I'll start being creative...
If you're always waiting for the future before you start living,
you'll never really live.
As Pope John Paul II said, "the future starts today, not tomorrow". If you're always waiting for tomorrow, you're going to be waiting a very long time.
I know are some things that have to wait for the future, some things that need money and secure relationships and solid jobs, so I'm not saying that you should Carpe the crap out of every Diem recklessly and without thought of consequences. What I am saying is that, if the absolute only reason you have for not doing it now is that
y o u ' l l d o i t l a t e r ...maybe it's not a very good reason.
No comments:
Post a Comment