The Beginning

This could be the beginning of a great adventure of blogging or an epic fail. I guess only time will tell. So why does a 22 year old guy decide to start blogging. Maybe because it sounded fun. Maybe because it's a way that I can vent. Who knows. Maybe because I feel that this is a pretty important time in my life, and Facebook just doesn't give it justice. Being a senior at Purdue with student teaching in the spring and Lord willing, graduation in May. It's just a good way of showing what is going on.

It probably wont be the fanciest blog. I am not sure I will ever have pictures or videos or anything creative like that. I guess I have never really been flashy, just kinda average and simple. In a way, I kind of expect my blog to be average and simple. I'm just a single, college, Christian guy sharing what God is doing in his life.

Which leads me to the title of the blog. "If not you, who?" I struggled coming up with a title that I liked. I even talked to a friend about the importance and stress of finding the perfect title. So what does the title mean. There are a lot of ways to take it. I first came across this quote from a book I was reading. (SIDENOTE: I am a history major, this blog may bring up a lot of history). The book was called Beyond Glory, a great book honoring men who have received the Medal of Honor. These are stories of men who went through the worst imaginable situations and lived to tell about it. One of the stories was of Jack Jacobs, who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Vietnam.

The story goes that Jacobs' and his men were ambushed one day on patrol. They were getting beat up pretty bad with machine gun and mortar fire. Guys were getting shot all around him and even Jacobs got wounded by a mortar. I could say a lot more but to sum it all up, Jacobs and his men were in trouble. Jacobs ended up getting one of his wounded guys back to safety. He could have stayed back but he ran back into the action to get another one of his wounded men and patched him and took him back to safety. Jacobs did this 14 times. Putting his life at risk so that others may live. In an interview years after the fighting, Jacobs said "If not you, who? If I was not going to do it, who was? I mean, I'm not a particularly brave guy, but who's going to do it? So, you know, you do what you have to do."

Though most of us are not running through rice fields and saving lives, we are living our lives on Earth. And there are times I believe when we are put in situations that Gods asks us to do something. I hope I'm not being too bold but I feel that God does call us to do things in our lives. This could be anything from feeling called to befriend someone at school. Or feeling called to adopt. Or feeling called to be a missionary or called to move into a trailer park. Whatever it may, God is asking us to do things. But sometimes...I'm just not fully ready to go. Sometimes I'm too proud. Sometimes I think that I will leave it for somebody else to do.

Pastor Eric Ludy brought forth some serious questions in a sermon. He asked if there is a limit to our obedience? Are there places that we will not go for God? Or here is the kicker, would you rather someone else go instead. For me this was extremely humbly because I do have limits. I wish I would have the mindset that I have been presented with an extraordinary opportunity. An opportunity of glorifying the name of God.  I wish everyday I can come to the realization that God will provide, will always provide.

So the challenge for me and you if you accept, is to go forward. Run through the rice fields. Sit with that classmate in class. Go forward, bold in the fact that God will provide and thinking, "If not you, who?" Is this too bold for the first blog?

Have a great weekend.