Student to Teacher

My inspiration for this week’s blog started at lunch on Wednesday.  We had to pack some backpacks for some underprivileged children during our lunch so the church bought us pizza.  A very nice gesture.  By the time the interns rolled in, people began to chow down.  Granted, it makes sense because we were all hungry after running around outside with small children for 3 hours. Observing all of this, I couldn’t help but take note of a few things.  Some people took more than they were asked to have.  Some people ate when the food was not for them.  Some people put pieces back because it wasn’t to their exact liking. It sounds trivial really, but the meaning behind it really stuck with me.

Then the really kicker came.  The church was hosting a barbecue dinner for the homeless population here in Fort Lauderdale.  We had more than 50 homeless friends come out and express such gratitude for our willingness to provide food and fellowship for them. I met so many people who are homeless who just wanted to be seen as a human being.  It only took asking “where are you from?” for them to light up.  In addition, I had the pleasure of playing trombone as well as playing guitar and singing for the event.  And the looks on their faces gave me more delight than I’ve felt in years of playing music. To think that so commonly just drive passed them on the street or ignore eye contact when walking by when they have so much to offer to us.  We typically see those who are less fortunate as in need of our assistance.  Mission trips, homeless ministries, low-income community children; they have just as much to offer to us as we could ever hope to provide for them.

Why is that a thing? Why do we have to have little to nothing in order to appreciate generosity?  Why would we ever feel entitled to kindness? Why would we not do more to fix this? As God is breaking my heart this summer in my own life and the lives of others, I am finding more and more how imperative it is for us to learn to love.  Learn to love God, learn to love our neighbor, learn to love ourselves.  So often we want to progress from being a student to being the teacher when we aren’t even close to knowing anything at all.  I don’t know about you, but I’m going to change my ways.  I am going to be a lifetime student, and that is totally okay with me.