Is It For Naught?

A black pants suit with a lavender shirt hangs in my closet.  It is my missionary commissioning outfit.  Directly below it on the floor is a pile of dirty work clothes waiting to be washed.  The work clothes are from a recent mission trip where I was a youth leader.  The mission work was all for good, and I saw God so clearly so many times.  The lasting relationships and inside jokes I built with the nine other people on the trip are priceless.

An unforgettable experience came on a afternoon when we had decided to visit the Cherokee Heritage Center.  While waiting for the whole group to be ready to leave, A woman entered the air conditioned lobby with 5 children under the age of 4.  She and the five children looked very tired from the heat.  I couldn’t resist talking to the lady, holding a child and talking to the children who could talk.  I spoke to a girl who was 3 and she was trying to tell me something I couldn’t understand.  I told her that I was sorry I wasn’t sure what she was saying.  The mom then told me that she was telling me about her siblings that had been lost to a miscarriage and that the family hoped they were in heaven.  I told the mother that I think they are in heaven, and she had a huge smile on her face when she said thank you, I told her I didn’t have a doubt at all that the babies were in heaven because all people are born with God’s grace and all people are given God’s prevenient grace before we are even formed in our mothers’ womb.  The mother was elated, she smiled from ear to ear as she told me that rarely did people argue about unborn babies going to heaven, but that she had never had anyone give her a definite explanation that unborn babies do in fact go to heaven. 

That lady and I had an interaction that was less than 5 minutes. I don’t even remember her name, and if I ever see her again I won’t recognize her.  I still made an impact in her life, one she will remember forever.  I just wish that I could make that big of an impact in the lives of everyone that I interact with.

Maybe I do, or at least I mean something to people, my church had a going away dinner for me, and that was an extremely touching day, especially seeing everyone who came to wish me good luck and tell me they will miss me. 

A couple of years ago, an 8 year old in my congregation got to wrestle in the state wrestling competition.  The competition was in a nearby town, so of course I was going, who would pass up an opportunity to watch 8 year old children wrestle.   So late one night, after a soccer game I ventured out to Wal-Mart and walked the aisles to find painters tape and paint to make signs to cheer for the boy.  I am sure that the friend who was with me was thinking that I was one strange person.  It is too bad wrestling is no longer an Olympic sport because that kid might as well have packed his bags and headed for the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. 

During my going away dinner, I had to make a speech, during my speech that boy who is now 10, jumped up on stage and gave me this huge hug.  It was so awesome, it was like Jesus was giving me a sign to keep on being Cindy, because I had done something right, I had been a blessing, and I will be a blessing wherever I go.

With my commissioning suit ready, I hope that I am also ready, and then the pile of laundry reminds me that I am already witnessing, and although things will be different in California, I just need to keep being “Cindy” because what I do does make a difference, even if I can’t see the difference right away. The title of this entry is, “Is it for naught?” The answer is, it is absolutely NOT for naught.