Don Miller, You Have My Attention

There are a few things in life that I think are underrated. Among these are: the power of an apology, Jolly Ranchers, waves on a beach, and those moments we have that are the proverbial “fork in the road”. I just got that fork in the form of a phone call. Well you see my friends, I have been offered really the chance of a lifetime…a trip to El Salvador to work in an orphanage with children of prostitutes. Did I mention I work at a crisis pregnancy center in Kennett Square and my sole responsibility is translating? Did I mention I have a well-known soft spot for women in abusive or difficult relationships? Did I mention I would be translating on this trip? God really has some crazy plans. So I stand at this cross-roads, nervously shifting my weight back and forth from foot to foot. Up until now the idea has seemed perfect; well it is perfect. But now reality hit: El Salvador isn’t the safest country, my Aryan nature probably won’t fit in very well, what if the women don’t accept me, it’s a costly trip, I need to find a job after graduation...well, you see the pattern. Not so coincidentally I have been reading Don Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. He talks about creating good stories with our lives- that to create good stories we have to do those things that scare us, and do the things that seem just a little crazy. If I give up this opportunity because I’m a little scared, I won’t be living a good story. I’ll be living a pretty darn wimpy story. And when my kids ask “Mommy, what did you after you graduated college?” I think they will think their Mom is “wicked awesome and cool” if I say “I hopped a plane to a not-so-safe country and hung out and chatted in Spanish with some awesome kids” rather than “I took the first safe job that came along to have health insurance and feed my weekly Starbucks addiction”. And let’s be honest, if my kids are anything like me, they won’t be afraid to tell their Mommy she was living a pretty boring story. So, here’s to adventure, a little fear, and celebrating an underrated life moment!