A couple of friends of mine spent spring break in San Francisco on a mission trip with their teenagers. This is not the first time I have had second-hand knowledge of this trip, several others have done this before. This trip is not about sight seeing, it is about working with the homeless. taking meals to those who are having a life experience with AIDS and kids living in conditions that are familiar to some of us.
As I thought about them during the week they were gone, there were many prayers for safety. There had been some incidents in the past that could have had some bad consequences and they did bring home a memory that will stay with them for the rest of their lives but they came home, safe and sound.
I will not mince words - I am not sure that taking kids into these kind of environments is what we should be doing. 20 years ago, I had few reservations about letting my girl travel to Mexico to help build mud churches - my whole philosopy has changed since then and so has Mexico.
But my friend said something yesterday that stayed with me. As she told me Stories of visiting with homeless men, I literally got goosebumps. I am fairly sure, I could not do this kind of work. She said she thought about me and said something about my radar being more sensitive. I think she is very right. Our life experiences are ours for a reason. We may not all be able to do the same thing but we can do Something. I remember people saying they could never do Hospice and I got an A during training when we took a field trip to the funeral home. I loved working with Hospice - may do it again someday. What a honor it is to be a part of someone's Life during a difficult time in their lives. You really aren't doing that much but to them, it feels like everything.
I am in awe of my friends's and what they did last week. I am so glad that we do not share the same radar. They may not have changed one life but that wasn't their goal. The goal was to show up. I think that is always the goal. Just to show up. When God show you Something, when you start picking up signals on your radar, all you have to do is show up. Nothing more, nothing less. That is the real mission, that's where it's at and that is all you really have to do...
