This line from a classic Waylon Jennings song goes a long
way to explain my life. I was shy as a younger kid, but as soon as I came out of
my shell, I was usually known as that guy who always said something stupid, who
always had the most ridiculous ideas, who could be talked into any hair-brained
scheme, and most importantly, who never knew when enough was enough.
All my childhood, I can remember my dear sweet mother
telling me no. No, your friend can’t stay the night. No, you can’t have that
toy. No, you’ve been going and doing enough lately. Now, please don’t think my
mom was being over-controlling. What I forgot to mention was, I had been at my
friend’s own house the night before, I had a nearly brand new toy waiting on me
at home, and I was almost always exhausted because I really was on the road way
to much. I was always looking for something to do, always wanting to do the
next fun thing, never knew when to say no. I never knew when enough was enough.
When I would come to momma, asking if I could do one more thing, she would just
give me that look that asked “are you crazy?”
Which brings me to Ireland. Kind of a big jump for some people,
but just force your mind to do it for me, and I’ll fill in the gaps later. You
see, at first glance, me deciding to go on this trip to Ireland is another
example of me doing way too much. I’m already going on a mission trip this
spring. I’ll also be working at a church camp all summer long. Once I found out
that Sam needed a wingman for this trip to Ireland, I quickly realized that, if
I went, my spring schedule would proceed like this: Miss a full 5 days of
college classes to go to Guatemala, come back, 2 days of classes, 3 days of
finals, take 2 finals early, fly out to Ireland for 3 weeks, 9 hour flight back
to the states, have one-half of a night to sleep (if jet lag allows), then wake
up bright and early to be recertified to work at the ropes course, which will
start a non stop 10 weeks of camp. That’s ridiculous. That’s unwise. That’s
crazy.
But, what if it could be done?
Would I really be able to serve at full capacity on 4 weeks
of mission tripping, all whilst getting good grades in all my classes, then
show up without being totally exhausted to work at camp?
The reason I was always going and doing as a kid was because
I was never satisfied with what I had. I had an unsatisfiable desire to do fun
things, to experience adventure, to feel the thrill of doing something crazy. I
always felt that if I were to say no to something, if I turned down an opportunity
to do something, that I would go completely insane. Now, I could feel myself
experiencing that feeling about going out and doing missions for God. I wanted
to do more that I was already doing. But when was enough finally enough?
All these things started whirling around in my in my head,
and at first my mother’s advice prevailed and I dismissed the whole idea.
But, God still had His say in the matter.
- Ethan Bossier
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