Abundant Life

 * Note about the picture: I understand that this is the ugliest picture that I have ever taken.  (Thanks, Luther!)  But in my defense, I was running a trencher, digging a trench to lay waterline at Camp Freedom– the boys’ ministries camp in Falcon, NC.  I was wearing a rain slicker, but after being rained on for several hours, I might as well have ditched the slicker.  Now, on with the blog…

Several years ago, I was invited to do a short series of Bible studies.  Those writings became a series called, “The Plan of God versus the Plan of the Enemy.”  The scripture I used was John 10:10 which says this:

The enemy wants to kill us.  If he can’t do that, then he will do everything that he can to paralyze us and leave us sad, empty, and useless.  But God wants to give us full, vibrant, rich, colorful, productive lives. (Sarah’s Special Paraphrase)

From the time I was a child, the best way to get me to do anything was to tell me that I couldn’t or wouldn’t do it.  My natural personality was one that desired adventure and excitement.  I think that deep inside, I was searching for my life’s mission.  But I felt like people were always trying to limit me and hold me back.  You’re not old enough.  You’re not big enough.  You’re not thin enough.  You’re a girl.  You’re a preacher’s kid.  You can’t afford it.  There was always something standing in my way and so I was perpetually frustrated.

The summer that I was thirteen, I made a decision.  My parents let me go out of town with a friend and her mother.  When we were about halfway to our destination, the slightly panicky mother of my friend said, “Sarah, do you know how to pump gas?”  I didn’t.  Neither did she.  As I wondered about how this grown-up had somehow missed learning this valuable skill, she flippantly commented, “That’s my husband’s job.  I’ve never learned how because if I learned, he’d expect me to do it.”  That day, as I taught myself how to pump gas (because my friend’s mother refused to) I decided that I wasn’t going to spend my life being helpless.  I also decided that I couldn’t wait on the people around me (parents, friends, etc.) to “make” my life or to bring me an adventure.  Carpe diem.  I would “seize the day.”

Over the years since that fateful day at the gas station in Burgaw, NC I have tried to experience and learn as much about life as possible.  I believe that God has called me to be useful, intelligent, and capable.  I went to college and got a degree.  I taught in community college for a couple of years.  I got a full-time ministry job and hooked up with a great medical missions organization.  I bought a house.  I adopted a wonderful, beautiful dog. 

I also stepped out and did some slightly unorthodox things.  I learned how to flush my car’s radiator and change my brake pads (a skill that really impressed my college boyfriend).  I’ve worked in a roof truss factory, done construction, and laid waterline (see picture above).  I’ve traveled over four continents (so far) and lived through an attempted coup of the government in a third world country. 

My Uncle Jesse has a little pet name for me.  He calls me, “Gutsy Chick.”  I like that.  It reminds me that even though I’ve had plenty of scrapes and bruises along the way, I’m living that “abundant life” that God wants me to have.  And along the way, I like to think that I’ve blessed a few people.  Made some people smile.  Shared a little hope with someone.  And that’s what God’s “abundant life” is all about.