Bagging Beans

I think if my blog had a soundtrack it would be the music from Early Edition. Does anyone remember that show? You know the one where the guy's cat brought him tomorrow's newspaper today and he had to contemplate how to remedy all the catastrophes he read before tomorrow came. Maybe he'd narrate my blog for me. Yeah, my blog lacks the humor and satire from an SNL skit nor does it possess the sass and flair of an Aretha Franklin made-for-TV concert. Oh well, that's not me so you'll just have to settle for my random insights and occasional one-liners.
As many of you know, this past weekend I flew to Dallas to attend the annual Medical Missions Seminar. I had planned to attend last year, but a death in the family the day before my flight was supposed to leave quickly cancelled those plans. I must say it was an absolutely incredibly edifying experience. My heart was just filled with warm fuzzies throughout the entire weekend. It was so encouraging to hear speaker after speaker that told about how God had worked in their lives and the lives of others. It was encouraging to see hundreds of people practicing pure Christianity, not complaining about insignificant issues, not pointing fingers at other people's specks and ignoring their own planks, and not just sitting in the pews on Sundays and living their own wills the other 6 days of the week. No, they were just practicing pure Christianity, helping the widows and orphans, healing the sick, and proclaiming the good news. That's all we were ever called to do, isn't it?
The great thing about serving God is meeting fellow servants. I had a wonderful time reuniting with people I had met through my missions experiences and spending time with some fellow METers. It was almost like being in Guatemala again except we weren't all dressed in scrubs and crammed into a 12 passenger van. We behaved ourselves, for the most part, and "el za za za" only was sung once during the event ;o).
The whole event reminded me of my attitude while on mission trips. It seems like even the most menial chore is turned into a glorious event while on such trips. I can remember in years past spending hours in a small, cinder block room in Honduras putting beans into bags yet full of joy while I did it. Why? I think it was because I knew that my "bean-bagging" would help out those who had no beans and thus bring glory to God by helping those less fortunate. So I started thinking, if I can bag beans for 3 hours without complaining, then why can't I study for 3 hours and do the same? I mean, it's kind of the same thing. Indirectly my studies will bring God glory by applying what I've learned to those I serve. So this semester, even though it's hard to see how knowing how to discern basal lamina from hemidesmosomes under a microscope is serving God, I'm going to try to keep things in perspective. Maybe I should just carry a bag of beans with me. Anyways, I'm off to study and share the good news about last semester's grades (we just got our final grade back :o)). Ciao!