Fail to prepare...

...prepare to fail.

Have you heard that old adage? The first time I remember hearing it was at a conference a few years ago. "Huh," I had thought, "that's interesting." It somehow managed to get stowed away inside my mind, only to resurface about a week ago.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll know that I have a heart for missions (particularly foreign). While I'm obviously not in a position to pack my bags and move to some obscure corner of the world just yet, God is training me in my everyday life. Our relationship went from being ritualistic - and religious - to being loving and reminiscent of the way parent-child relationships should be. As I make mistakes, I hear "the little voice" inside my head giving me mini-lectures. It's kind of like having spell-check on your life. (More simply put, extremely helpful yet occasionally aggravating.)

Just recently, I realized that yes - God is training me right in my very own city - but eventually, I won't be in high school anymore. I won't be living with my parents in Anytown, USA for the rest of my life. One day, I'm going to go out into the world, start my own family, build my own legacy, etc. All that jazz. (That Hollywood jazz... Forgive me, but I love 80s music.) But before I go to my "ultimate" place - the country that I feel God calling me to - I should probably (no; definitely) have some practical experiences.

Within the past year, I've stumbled upon a good amount of mission trip opportunities, both within my own state and country and on other continents. (The latter category appeals to me far more.) My parents, the frugal people that they are, wouldn't go for a $2,000 expense. Back then, I didn't have a source of income (other than my allowance... haha) and I wasn't as in love with Jesus as I am now. The Holy Spirit hadn't yet become my go-to guy. So I let these opportunities go.

Then, just the other day, I remembered that if I

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

and it hit me like a ton of bricks. (Gotta love the English language; it has such peculiar idioms.) If I want to go on a missions trip within the next few years, I need to start saving now. So I grabbed a standard envelope and a Sharpie. On the envelope I wrote "Missions money" and made myself the following deal: whatever money goes into the fund does not come out until I am paying my expenses for a foreign mission trip. No exceptions.

I'm a movie buff. Just today I bought the Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy of the new X-Men movie. Did I really need that? No. I just wanted it. But people out there NEED the gospel, and it is not my duty to sit back and watch as others take action; instead, it is my responsibility to get off my butt and do something about the evil in this world. I could have added another thirty bucks to my missions fund. But I didn't. I wasted it on a material thing.

Not that there's anything wrong with indulging every now and then. But I could have saved that money for something else. And next time, I think I will. (Of course, ever since I first saw First Class in theaters, I told myself that I would buy the combo pack, so it wasn't some spur-of-the-moment thing.) When it comes down to it, I don't want to prepare to fail simply because I failed to prepare. I want to be ready when the time comes. (Reminds me of "I Wanna Be Ready" by B. J. Thomas; this is the song I'd fall asleep to as a kid.) I'm saving a good portion of my money for this future mission trip. I've told several people about it; they can help hold me accountable. My bare minimum for the fund is $1 out of every $10 that I make. (So, 10%, like my tithe.) And that's a good place to start.

So let me ask you this: what are you doing? Are you failing to prepare? Or are you preparing for success? Find your burden, and do something about it. Save money, volunteer, whatever. But don't just sit there.

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

~ Edmund Burke

I refuse to let evil, in its many forms, triumph. I may not be big, but I'm not too small to make a difference. Neither are you.

Deliberation is the work of many men. Action, of one alone.

~ Charles De Gaulle

So how about it, folks? Let's be that one man (or woman!) who acts. Let's not be "good people" who stand in silence. Let's be ransomed sinners who walk by faith.