It's a Small World

I would be willing to bet that everyone reading this has heard of the phrase, "It's a small world" before. In case you haven't, such a phrase is generally spoken when an incredible coincidence occurs, typically when you see someone in a place you would not expect. It is used quite regularly and there is even a ride at every Disney theme park in the world by this name. On this ride, park guests can float along a track and visit the different cultures of the world. In my 20 years of life, I have heard the phrase or variations of it used more often than ever before over the past two years at A&M. Even with a campus of over 50,000 students, you always manage to run into people you know, which is always such a joy! So I'm rather use to hearing "it's a small world" or "you will never believe" at A&M because in many ways, it is the only world I know for weeks at a time during the semester and in relation to the globe, A&M is rather small and if I weren't in college I probably wouldn't believe half the stuff I see around campus.

However, just this Friday I had such an "It's a small world" moment outside of A&M and College Station. I was sitting at my sister's house late that night watching a movie and talking with some friends. My sister's friend Johanna Burleson was there visiting for the night with her three year old son Hayden, Jenna's God Son. Johanna was also my Disciple Now leader one year when I was in high school. It was while I was sitting on my sister's couch that Johanna began asking me about my internship this summer and where I would be at within Haiti.

I replied: "St. Louis du Nord. It's in the Northwestern portion of the country."

It was then, that Johanna got this look on her face and said, "Hold on, I think I may know people who are missionaries there, John and Christi Barnes. Let me check! You may see them."

It was then that I had my "IT"S A SMALL WORLD MOMENT!"

You see, John and Christi Barnes are Facebook friends with me, even though I had never met them due to Northwest Haiti Christian Mission setting up a Facebook group for the summer interns and NWHCM staff to get to know each other. I will be seeing them and will likely be working very closely with both of them over the course of this summer. It turns out that Johanna and her husband Nic Burleson financially support John and Christi as missionaries through their church they planted: Timber Ridge Church in Stephenville, Texas.

Immediately after I heard this I thought, "It's a small world!" But in reality it is NOT a small world at ALL. In fact, the world is rather large. The diameter of the earth is nearly 13,000 Kilometers with a mass that is most easily expressed in moles (that's big). There are 196 countries with a population of just over 7 BILLION people. It is not a small world. It is a HUGE world. It is not a coincidence, it is God's beautiful story, playing out within our lives. It is not a small world. It is a HUGE world. But our God is BIGGER and to Him, our world is small. In that regard, in the hands of our Creator, it's a small world.

Thinking back to the ride at the Disney resorts though. Those rides show places from within our world that are depicted as full of joy with happy and healthy characters in rooms full of bright colors and lighthearted music. But what about the places in the world that aren't so joyful? What about the kid in the U.S. whose parents are going through a divorce? What about the woman in England who is depressed? What the little girl in China who has never heard the Name of Jesus? What about the man in South Korea who is ashamed of something that he has done and doesn't know about His grace? What about the the mother in Uganda that is raising 6 children on her own? What about the autistic child in Haiti that has been abandon by his parents because their culture tells them he is cursed? What about the children who go through life never understanding the word love because no one has ever shown them? What about the thousands of children who will die today of hunger? And the thousands more of preventable diseases? Why aren't they depicted in these rides? They are all apart of the world too right? But that ride depicts 'a small world' remember? NOT my world. Not our world. Our world is big. Our world is full of darkness and hurt and death. But in that darkness there is LIGHT. In our HUGE world full of darkness, there is LIGHT!

Our world is HUGE and full of darkness, but our God is BIGGER and BRIGHTER. Our world is HUGE and full of hurt, but our God is EVERYWHERE within it and He brings HEALING. Our world is HUGE and full of death, but our God is HERE and He is ALIVE!!!

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." -Psalm 19:1

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."-Ephesians 2:4-5

Here is a link to Nic and Johanna's church in Stephenville: Timber Ridge Church. If you know anyone in the area or an incoming college student to Tarleton who is looking for a church, be sure to let them know.

Surprises

I hope you have had the chance to experience those conversations in life that while they are taking place you are able to think to yourself, "Man, I'm going to remember this one for a while!" One of these such conversations took place for me in June 2010. My senior year of high school I was blessed with the chance to take a graduation trip that summer backpacking through Europe for two weeks. I learned so much about myself in that amount of time and saw and experienced some incredible things. During the course of those two weeks I had some really awesome conversation about life with many of the people I traveled with, but the one that I perhaps remember most occurred in Florence, Italy. It was a night when my group had gone to dinner at Ristorante del Fragidi. An incredibly tasty place where life pretty much just stops and dinner is more of a social component and time to spend investing with others rather than a need to consume food. In simpler terms, that was the longest, but one of the most enjoyable dinners of my life. At the end of a three plus hour meal we were talking over dessert and coffee about the future and our plans. It was then, that one of our chaperones, Coach George, spoke of how we really couldn't anticipate too far into the future because when we looked back to our lives in 2008, none of us would have ever guessed that we would be traveling through Europe two years into the future. So really, it was no realistic to focus on the future all too much because it's always likely to change. He said, "We can only guess where we will each be two years from now."

Well, roughly two years exactly to that night in Florence I will be in St. Louis de Nord, Haiti. And believe me, if you had allowed me 25 guesses of where I would have been two years from that moment in Italy not one of those would have been even remotely come close to: working with awesome kids with special needs in Northwest Haiti as an intern and showing them and the people of Northwest Haiti the love of Jesus Christ. Not even close.

But that's life. And life is full of surprises. But fortunately for all of us, while the future may come as a surprise to us, none of it is a surprise to God. This last semester has been completely full of surprises from before it even began. Things took place in my life that I never would have expected. Starting with my friend Caleb who as in a ski accident in January. That was something none of us could have ever prepared for, but His glory has been evident throughout all of Caleb's recovery. It was also a surprise to me as a cochair to see all the things that unfolded within our camp this semester. I never would have guessed the amount of growth that I've experienced or the challenges I faced with my partner this semester. I never could have imagined how much work would be put into it, yet also the incredible ways that the Lord worked through 18 college students in 4 months and is still continuing to do so. I was thrown off guard at the Lord's constant call for me to be single and focus on Him this summer even though it was one of the most difficult things I've ever faced in being obedient to Him. I would have never assumed the amount of community and friends He has blessed me with in college, but upon realizing this, I've felt so encouraged. And getting a phone call on Friday that one of my best friends since I was seven and current roommate in college had flipped her car 4 times on her drive home to Georgetown also came as a shock and surprise. Yet, it was in His plan to keep her safe and allow her to continue to recover in the hospital in order to be a huge blessing and light to both the doctors and nurses on her floor, but also to her family and friends as well. I love you Mack!

I know it's easy to forget, especially in the worst of times, but He has got this. As I texted a friend right after Mackenzie's accident I was told "Just remember NOTHING surprises Him. He is sovereign over it all". There are many days in life that I have to be reminded of this. Even though it may come as a surprise to me, He has had this in line from the start. From the beginning of time.

So many of us say that we love to be surprised, but really we only love to be caught by surprise when the outcome is positive. And if you really look at it, all of life is a surprise because none of us knows what tomorrow holds or how any of this is ultimately going to unfold. And you know, that's okay with me. I am twenty years old and I DO NOT want to know what I'll be doing when I am 65 because half the fun is going to be the journey getting there and I know the Lord is going to have some crazy things in store for me. Because I've found that what God has in store for me (good or bad) is going to unfold whether I want it to or not and ultimately going to work out far better than I could have ever expected. So there's no point in planning out my life two years in advance. For, I know that even if given 25 more guess, I wouldn't get it right.

So as I have certainly witnessed from my good friend Mackenzie this week, it's not about getting to where you think God is calling you to be, but about glorifying Him in whatever circumstance you are in as you get there. No matter if that's from a hospital bed with a collar around your next and a chest tube with a smile on your face as you treat your doctors and nurses with such love and hospitality that all your visitors hear from half a dozen of the hospital staff on how sweet you are or the middle of Haiti or where ever else this summer may find you. Because where this summer is exactly where He has called you to be and precisely in His plan. No matter if that's a surprise to you or not. It's no surprise to Him.

I know my time in Haiti this summer is going to be full of loads of surprises and things I will never anticipate. I just pray that I can continually be flexible for what He has in store and faith to know that whatever happens, He's got this and His plan is far better than what I've got. With roughly 3 weeks until I leave for Haiti I can not wait to witness all the surprises He has in store for me!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11