Are we there yet?

As a parent, or supervisor/guardian of children on any type of trip, how many times have you heard that question? It's the universal code for: "I am tired of traveling and I just want to get to wherever it is that we are going." Well, that's the very question that we find ourselves asking.

Following our 9 hour flight from DFW to Heathrow, we had a 9+ hour layover in London. So we did what most Americans would do, we arranged a day tour of London. Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Piccadily Circus, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Parliament, 10 Downing Street...we managed to squeeze most of it in. As we boarded yet another airplane for our 11-hour flight to Johannesburg, I was amazed at how many sights we were able to cram into our brief tour.

That in turn got me to thinking about a comment made by one of our lead volunteers in missions ministry. She and I were having a conversation this past week about how many tasks and projects a person can accomplish in the days prior to vacation or a long time away from the office. Think about it. How many times have you worked like an absolute fiend just to make sure that every i is dotted and every t is crossed at work before you leave for vacation? You can end up so exhausted that you're too tired to enjoy your vacation. (And don't get me started about needing a vacation to recover from your family vacation. That's a subject for another blog entirely).

As my stream of conscienceness thinking continued, I began to examine my spiritual life to see how this sense of urgency applied to me. Am I as intensely focused on reaching my neighbors for Christ? Am I so keenly focused on serving those in need? Why am I so driven at certain times but not at others? I am sad to say that I came up lacking in my self-evaluation.

Just think of it. Christ-followers around the world passionately committed to the cause of Christ - in whatever form that may take - on a daily basis. What if we (I) were as willing to feed the homeless as we (I) are about helping Africans who don't have clean water? What if we (I) were as intentional in sharing our faith as we (I) are in making sure that we have our Starbucks every morning?

So, as we prepare for the last leg of our journey to Malawi - a two hour plane ride - I ask you to please continue to pray for our team. Pray that we will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and that we would each be intensely focused on fulfilling his purpose for us in Malawi. But don't stop there. Ask God to keep us passionate and focused even after we return. And while you're at it, if you dare to truly be an imitator of Christ, to be the world-changers we were called to be, make the same prayer for yourself.

Soli Deo gloria,
Michael