"Missions."

So you think you've been called to do "missions." You believe that God has chosen you as one of His elite people who will go out into the poorest parts of the world and see some messed up stuff and then fix it. You can't wait until you finish high school, finish college, tie up your loose ends here so that you can someday go somewhere else and start your ministry.

If you feel that any of the above statements are true to you, I implore you to reevaluate your mindset. 

Answering the question of what you are going to do with your life by saying "mission work" is like going to a restaurant and saying "yes, I'll have the food for lunch today."

When you decide to follow Christ, you've already entered into that calling to live a life that exemplifies His love and sacrifice to the people around you. It's no different whether you're a lawyer, school teacher, dentist, or missionary. I've said it before and I'll say it again: it is not the "what" but the "why" that matters. If you think your abilities are best used building up an impoverished nation, I wouldn't dream of stopping you. If you are a gifted surgeon, by all means keep cutting people open. 

You don't have to leave to live a meaningful life. There is need everywhere, and if you don't think America needs help, you are severely mistaken. 

The point I am trying to make is that there is nothing separate about living a life of missions and living a life. If you are seeking to follow the Lord, there is no better place to do it and no better time to start than the exact moment and setting you are currently emerged in. 

I'm reading the New Testament right now with some friends and co-workers. Ever since I read this passage:  

 ²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

The word, immediately has been stuck to my brain. I can't stop thinking about it. How often do we say to ourselves that we will start doing something after we've finished something else? How often do we feel like our lives are just too busy right now, or we're not ready to give something up? (one of the girls also reading it had a similar experience reading this passage. Check it out: http://livrae.wordpress.com)

I want to end by saying this: we are all called to missions. We are all called to missions now. It does not matter where that is. It does not matter how small or large of a scale it is on. It just matters that you're doing it, both here and now and there and later. 

Stop separating what your life currently is from what you think your life will one day be and get started with it now.

Unless.

I got a tattoo today. I'd been thinking about it for over a year and finally turned thought into action. The idea was inspired by a Dr. Seuss book, The Lorax: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better. It's not."

Basically, unless we rise up and actually do something in the world, nothing is ever going to change.

People will keep being hungry, orphaned, enslaved, and broken unless we take action. Life's not going to get better unless you choose to find things to enjoy about it. This fleeting earth will keep wasting away unless we care about it.

There's just so much resting on the unless. It's the difference between things happening and remaining stagnant.

When I look down at my hand, I see a reminder to get off my butt. I see a plea against lethargy and a cry for action. I remember that my life is not for my own pleasure and nothing else; that I desire change in the world.

It's a challenge every day to live on the right side of the unless, but it's a challenge I extend to you.

Unless you try your hardest, you'll always wonder how much more you could have done.