Sell Everything

6/14/09
I attended Murray’s church service with him and his family this morning. He had invited me last week since it he was leaving for the states tomorrow to begin his Mercy Ships adventure. His church held a commissioning service for him and he said a few things about Mercy Ships. Murray attends a Baptist church and even though I am not a Baptist myself, I was happy to support Murray and have the opportunity to wish him well. Because I don’t practice any specific religion myself, I am always open to learning about others.

The service was mostly music, which I think is a really fun way to run a service. I might have preferred some Jack Johnson or Mary J, but it was far more tolerable and easier to follow than the whole sit, stand, kneel song and dance.

Murray delivered a great presentation on Mercy Ships and its mission. He showed a very moving video to accompany his talk. I almost considered boarding the ship myself! I had the honor of taking photos.

Henry, a good friend of Murrays from the ship, gave a wonderful sermon on missions and callings and the like. A past chaplain on the ship, he spoke easily and his messages were captivating. Henry talked for about 30 minutes, and I took away two very profound words: “Sell everything.” Henry spoke at length to explain this according to the bible, but this is my personal interpretation. When we are driven to do something, there are often many things that stand in our way. To sell everything is to give up everything we have and know and are comfortable with to dedicate ourselves fully to our “mission” in life. Henry assured us that “God will not take anything from you he can’t return.”

I couldn’t help but feel like that message was directed to me. I thought about, first of all, coming here. This project is something I have always dreamed of doing. All signs pointed to “yes” that I should come here. The lease on my apt, my vacation time, the United States HQ of Connect being in Winthrop! Even still, there were so many things in my way, the biggest being finances and my job. I knew all along that fulfilling this dream would mean giving up stability, reassurance, friends and family, and the comfort that I had fallen into in Boston. I weighed my decision for countless hours. I remember the exact moment that I decided to go for it. It was a sudden feeling that it was the right thing to do, that it was my calling. I was walking home from the train station and listening to my ipod. The next song that played was Jason Mraz, Make It Mine. The first verse says, “Wake up everyone. How can you sleep at a time like this, unless the dreamer is the real you? Listen to your voice, the one that tells you to taste past the tip of your tongue. Leap and the net will appear.” There was definitely a force bigger than myself pulling me in this direction; telling me, “go for it. The rest will fall into place.”

This “sell everything” concept can be applied to even life’s smallest decisions. If you feel compelled to something; something you feel strongly about, you can’t let anything stand in your way. We must make the effort, venture out of our comfort zones and take risks in order to grow and be successful. The bigger the effort, the bigger the challenge, the bigger the success.

jamie and some of our coworkers