Perhaps it's just that I don't have the same amount of time to ponder things when I'm at school as I do here at home... I'm not really sure... but one thing I do know for sure is that within the past couple days I've been reminded what it's like to really serve someone out of love, not expecting anything in return. Granted, in at least one of the situations I was rewarded for my efforts in the end, but I had the chance -- for about three hours in one case -- to give of my time and talents without expecting any sort of compensation at all.

This is not an attempt to glorify myself in any way... truly, what really blows me away about this is not that I took these two or three opportunities in the past couple days, but the fact that they stood out to me. If these hours of real servanthood made this significant an impact on me... what does that say about me? What does that say about my everyday attitude about serving others and my typical patterns of Christian service? If I were really emulating the service-oriented attitude of Christ in my daily life, it seems unlikely that these experiences would have so affected me.

I am so thankful that the Lord uses people and situations in our lives to both remind and convict us. If He had not given me these opportunities and then opened my eyes to show me the shortcomings in my heart and my life, I never would have thought to look at these areas on my own. I know that I'll never be perfect... but I don't want to be the type of Christian who walks away from an opportunity to serve. I want the Lord to see me as a faithful, willing servant -- one He could trust with any mission, whether it's to help a friend with homework or take His gospel across the world to a hostile nation. I know this is a process... I'm not there yet, but my prayer is that God will continue to work in my life, teach me, reveal His will for my life, and lead my footsteps on the path He wants me to take to get there. My job is to trust Him. And hold on tight... this will be an incredible ride, as long as I can remember to stay in the passenger seat and let Him do the steering.