One way

Suppose a man from out of town asks you how to get from Lafayette to Louisville.  “Take I-65 south until you cross the Ohio River,” you’d say.  There’s really only one way.

Now suppose you ask yourself how to get from where you are in life to where you want to be.  Think about that for a while; my answer comes a bit later.

One of my friends from high school asked himself this question and his journey has inspired me more than any other man’s quest for self-discovery.  Brandon asked himself where he wanted to be, and his answer was to help other people get out pornography addiction.  Now he works at XXXChurch.com in Las Vegas.  Watch this video to get an idea of what he is doing (this video requires a pretty fast processor though, which I don’t have) — he appears just after the 8 minute mark.  In the video, he says that he has dreamed of working for X3 since he was a junior in high school.  He knew where he wanted to be and saw only one way to get there.  He now goes where Jesus would go, saving the lost who many feel uncomfortable even mentioning.  He absolutely loves his job, and I love how his past has given his life meaning and passion.

On Monday, I turned in what was described as “the most important handout of your life.”  It was a questionnaire asking us where and what we want to do on clerkship rotations all next year.  Here is one question:

 

I used to dread answering this question.  There are so many options and I didn’t know which way to choose.  Now I know that, for me, there’s really only one way.  I love the feeling of just knowing in my heart what the Lord has planned for me.  It’s as clear to me as guiding a man to Louisville.  So I’m going to CA, TX, or IL and helping those with HIV/AIDS.  I want to go where Jesus would go, helping the lost who many feel uncomfortable even mentioning.  Just like Brandon, I won’t forget what my past has taught me and will use it to give my life meaning.

I haven’t seen Brandon in over 4 years; we only talk through e-mail.  But we’re meeting up over Christmas and it’s going to be LEGENDARY!

character revealing moments

All right.  I’m back.  Thanks for all the comments and e-mails; I appreciate them a lot!  Las Vegas was tons of fun with my roommates.  I’m so glad Nathan and Casey will be around for another year with me this fall.

So I’m creating a new term called ‘character revealing moments.’  These are times and situations in which my behaviors and reactions give me insight into the type of person I really am.  I feel that at my age of 22, my character is pretty much set.  I may not know myself completely, but I’m not going to change.  It’s funny for me to watch little kids grow up.  When is it that they develop their personality?  Or is it innate, and not even developed at all?  Either way, I am still learning who I am through certain situations I face.  For example, how kindhearted am I really?  I find out through how willing I am to help patients at work.  Do I just do the minimum for them, or do I take things to the next step and offer an alternative solution to help them?  Am I compassionate throughout the week, or do I take shortcuts on Friday afternoons?

I’ve always hated those ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books.  I could never decide which path to take, so I only chose after I had read both possible passages.  Life’s not like that at all, and neither are these character revealing moments.

Now notice I call them character revealing, and not character defining or character developing. There’s an important distinction there.

Troy left for his internship in Texas today.  He’ll be working at a church, and from what I understand, will be closely following a youth minister and learning that trade.  Honestly, it seems to me sometimes that he has so many spiritual gifts:  encouragement, exhortation, evangelism, faith, giving, hospitality, intercession, knowledge, leadership, and mercy — and I maybe have two:  music and some other gift that I have to cheat on the test to get.  He’s hands down had the most positive influence on me of everyone I’ve met at Purdue and I can’t wait to see him when he gets back — I know he’ll have some great stories.

I’ve got an idea for this summer, but it will take some courage.  I’ll tell you about it if I decide to pass through this character revealing moment.