Send Me

"You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give"
- Winston Churchill

Oh goodness. I don't even know where to begin with this one.

It has only been a few days since I last updated (I know, shocking) but I feel like I could type for hours on end about what I have been learning.

Wednesday was our actual Surf Day for WDWSP11, which is still one of my favorite days on project. We all piled in cars and headed to Cocoa beach to ride the waves. When we left Kissimmee, it was over a hundred degrees outside with the sun threatening to scorch the very hair off our arms. By the time we reached Cocoa an hour later, in typical Florida fashion, the sky was heavy with the menacing threat of rain and thunder. As dozens of tourists flooded from the sands towards the safety of their rental cars, we grouped up to discuss the first activity of the day, which was going out and talking to people about faith using a tool called Soularium, which is basically a set of pictures that go with questions like "Which three images would you choose to describe your life?" and "Which image best represents your view of God?"

This tool is designed to engage people in spiritual conversations in a way that is relevant to our culture- through really cool pictures. As a creativity-driven visual learner, I just love using this. Don't get me wrong, I would still rather engage in a spiritual conversation with someone I have built a relationship with than a complete stranger, but heck, I would rather do just about anything with someone I know than a stranger. But anyways, we divided up into pairs and braved what felt like egg-sized raindrops and tromped down to the waters edge. Alicia(a fellow staff girl and one of my dearest new friends) and I asked a young couple, lets call them John and Jane, if we could go through the pictures with them. They said yes, and we sat down and went through the pictures together and just generally talked about life for over an hour. John was raised in a Catholic home and had a bad taste for religion because of his experience. Jane was raised going to a non-denominational church, and after a few years of rebelling against it, had started going back. She really loved God- you could just see it in her eyes when she talked about her relationship with Him. Anyways, they opened to us about how they were struggling with their religious differences and it was actually preventing them from getting engaged.

We talked a long time about the difference between "religion" and "relationship," because Christianity is not just a religion. It is about actually being in a relationship with God. It isn't just a set of rules, it is a Father who loves you as a son or daughter whom he has adopted. Alicia and I both got to share a little bit of our life stories with them, giving them examples of how trusting God has made an impact on our lives. By the end of the conversation, Jane was sharing with us about how she does Mary Kay type jewelry parties, and Alicia said she was interested in knowing more, so Alicia and Jane (important point I forgot to make- they were staying in Orlando on vacation from Cali) set up a coffee date later on in the week so they could talk more about the home jewelry business. We said our goodbyes and went to meet up with the rest of the project.

We spent the afternoon on the waves, and boy, was it good to be back. I know I wrote last year about how it was an incredible metaphor for living by faith- getting out in the water time after time, regardless of how well our last ride went. The rush of standing up on a piece of plastic and being pushed along by something so powerful... I can't even describe that feeling. I also got to help teach all of the new students how to surf and I spent a lot of time giving them a push into the waves (they were pretty puny compared to what I have seen the Atlantic produce. But puny is good for learning). I smiled to myself countless times that day at the beautiful metaphor God was creating for me. Here I was, one year after the experience that changed my life forever. The people were new and the waves were new, but once again I found myself sitting in a lineup of people who were courageously, nervously, and excitedly waiting for what the next swell would bring. This time I wasn't just riding the waves myself, but I was coming alongside students, encouraging and reassuring them that nothing was impossible. Sharing my experience, providing a nudge, giving tips and pointers. And, every once in a while, a sweet wave came along that I got to ride.

One of those metaphorical waves started there and continued way past Cocoa Beach. A few days after our adventure, Alicia met with Jane for their coffee date. John came too, and when he got up to buy the coffee, Jane turned to Alicia and said "You will NEVER believe what happened after you and Kelly left us the other day"

Ready for some chills?

Apparently, religion has been one of the main sources of their arguments for years. They had been dating over five years, and it was one of the only things keeping them from moving on to the next stage in life. The night before we met them on the beach, it came up again. John said he was having a hard time believing in God and that he didn't like all the rules that came along with religion (he told us this on the beach too.) But what neither of them told us on the beach was how that conversation ended. Just about 12 hours before we plopped down next to their towels, John had ended the argument by saying something along the lines of "God, if you are real, please show me a sign."

Enter Alicia and myself. As we walked away after our conversation, John turned to Jane and said "That was my sign."

Apparently our conversation had touched on all of the things he was struggling with, especially the concept of grace. Grace is something tricky to understand. Growing up, my only concept of grace came from ballet. Grace was the prima ballerina who moved so effortlessly, like she was guided by the air. Now, grace is a gift. Imagine the best Christmas/birthday/Hanukkah/whatever reason gift you have ever received. Now imagine a gift that you got that blew away your expectations. Something you never ever deserved. That, my friends, is grace. It is forgiveness without conditions. It is love despite betrayal. God has a neverending supply of grace despite our constant failure, and it is displayed most poignantly through the gift of Jesus, the only perfect person to walk this Earth. Jesus, out of his great love for us, took all our punishment upon him when he died a humiliating, criminals death. What we were left with was grace.

That afternoon, John and Jane talked honestly for the first time about what it would look like to be married and have God at the center of their marriage and their lives. That night, John proposed.

He bought the ring months ago and has been carrying it around, waiting till the time was right.

Like I said at the beginning of this entry. I am not a huge fan of walking up to strangers and asking them what they believe. I am ashamed to admit this fear has kept me from engaging in a spiritual conversation when I outright felt God telling me to do so. Thank goodness God is more powerful than me and can compensate for my screw ups. And again, I am thankful for His grace. And I am so glad He gave me the courage to go out and surf some waves that day, even when the pickings were slim. I don't think I am going to be so afraid now. Yes, I may crash and burn 99% of the time. And although I am positive this was a rather unique experience, that thrill of feeling something powerful moving all around you, that thrill is worth every single wipeout that comes along the way.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
-Isaiah 6:8


Kel