I experienced a twinge of unexpected emotion yesterday.
Seems like lately I’ve encountered a lot of people who’ve worked directly with trafficking victims. They get to be boots on the ground—building homes, participating in rescues, actually interacting with these folks, hearing their stories, having opportunities to form relationships.
They doing real stuff.
I don’t get to relate heroic stories. I don’t get to tell you about the amazing people I met. I don’t get to talk about the life-changing impact of personal encounters.
Did you notice the subject of the previous three sentences? I…I…I.
And that emotion I mentioned? I think it was jealousy.
Silly, isn’t it? Or sad. We identify the people in the spotlight, those who do the “important” work. And if we’re not in one of those roles, our work doesn’t matter quite as much.
So I remind myself: It’s not about me!
There’s stuff I can do, and stuff I can’t. That’s true for you as well. They key is not allowing what we can’t do to keep us from doing what we can do. If each of us does what we can, where we are, with what we have—we change the world.
I’d love to travel to New Delhi and help with construction on the new HOME OF HOPE. Fact of life: I’d be in the way, and it’s not about my feelings. It’s about supporting the kids at the home and meeting their needs.
That’s why I love the way FRONT RANGE FREEDOM TOUR ’14 works. We’ll end up with about 20 cyclists on the 500-mile ride, but more than 100 people will be part of the tour team. Every role matters.
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For example, the guys at Harvest Farm were overwhelmed when I told them strangers stepped forward to sponsor their ride. When you’re battling life-long addiction, when you’ve been in jail and lived on the streets, you spend a lot of time wondering whether you matter. The notion that someone you’ve never met actually cares—well, that kind of affirmation is life-altering.
When they heard that news, a couple of men who’d previously dismissed the notion of riding a bike 50 miles expressed an interest. After we finished our class they wanted to hang around and learn more about human trafficking and the HOME OF HOPE. There’s something about being part of a big story that attracts people. If you’d like to be part of this big story, click here.
I have to keep reminding myself: RICH’S RIDE isn’t about Rich and it isn’t about a ride. I don’t promote this stuff or ask you to get involved because I somehow want to be the center of attention.
Jealousy, pride, ego—they’re real, and it’s dumb to pretend we don’t experience them occasionally. So we stay aware, agree to be accountable, and repent when we recognize them.
Jesus didn’t say, “Be perfect” or even “Try to be perfect.”
He said, “Let’s go do stuff together.”
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