An Unexpected Call

It was a rough day today...not gonna lie. I'm getting another sinus infection, feeling exhausted, struggling with school work that never seems to end and students that need more help than I can give, and... it's only Tuesday. So, when I went to check my voicemail messages at school for the final time today before leaving the building, all I expected was a parent that I'd have to call back or someone calling about my service learning class, but not what I heard.

"Hello, this is ___ (I can't remember her name) from the White House scheduling office." My heart dropped for a split second. My students had sent a letter to President Obama, inviting him to our Veterans Day event in November. I suddenly got VERY scared that our little high school was about to be put on the map, in a VERY big way!

"We received your letter and wanted to call to let you know that the President will not be able to attend your event. But he would like to send his best wishes and deepest thanks for the invitation."

Whew, after the initial relief that I felt for not having to suddenly figure out what to do with the secret service, the helicopter that would be landing on school grounds, and where I could find a copy of "Hail to the Chief", I started thinking about the adrenaline rush and pure excitement that I just experienced. The President of the United States' office called ME today! ME? WOW, no matter what you think about the current president or the politics of our day, receiving a call from the White House is pretty cool!! (And having it on your answering machine to replay over and over again for everyone you know, is even cooler!)

As excited as I was, how much "cooler" is it to receive a call from God? I can tell you from experience that it is MUCH COOLER. It's also less prestigious and more demanding; but wow, how rewarding! I don't think you have to be a minister to feel the call of God on your life. Every person on this planet has a divine purpose, and hearing that purpose, feeling it for the first time, is the best rush of adrenaline you'll ever experience! And no matter what the costs or struggles that you have to endure for that call, the blessing is so much greater than you can ever imagine.

Today's little excitement made me wonder: am I living for the glory of men and the excitement of this world, or am I heaven-centered, with my mind on purposes from above? I think that might be a good question for each of us to ask of our own lives today because it is at the center of what we do the things we do and why we value the things we value. You never know when the final, unexpected call will come...will you be ready with your mind on heavenly things?