His name was Steven, but we called him "Spike."
Spike was a freshman living at the end of the hall during my sophomore year in
college. We christened him "Spike" simply because his appearance was anything
but wild, and we suspected he would never live up to the outrageous-sounding
title.
We "helped" Spike adjust to college life. We assisted other dorm residents in
playing practical jokes on him. When clouds of crickets invaded Abilene that
fall, we gathered up forty or fifty dead ones and placed them in a semi-circle
around his door, like tiny worshipers gathered at a religious shrine. We made
prank phone calls to his room. We gave him bad advice on purpose.
Besides being an incredibly good sport and putting up with a lot of stupidity,
Spike did one thing that truly impressed me. Late one night, we jammed his door
shut. We expected him to get up the next morning, realize he was going to miss
class, and begin banging on the door for help. If nobody responded, we assumed
he would just sit in his room and skip class, figuring he had a pretty good
excuse.
Spike did no such thing. Instead, he jumped out the window, a very high window,
rather than miss class. I think that was when I realized that Spike had a little
more "spike" in him than we thought. He had decided what he was going to do, and
nothing was going to stop him.
After almost a decade in ministry, I am still amazed at people. I see people
coming to church who have no business coming to church. They get up early, get
ready, and drive here in spite of health problems that would stop most of us.
They make it here because they want to be here.
I see people giving money to this church who have no business giving money.
Their own finances are precarious at best, yet they still choose to honor God in
their giving, simply because He matters to them.
I see people, whose lives are such a mess they can hardly cope, people who have
taken the very worst that life throws at anyone, people who have no business
trying to help others because they are fighting just to stay afloat themselves.
I see these people ministering, caring, serving, simply because they choose to.
I see the other side as well, those with amazing gifts who are unwilling to
serve, those with incredible talents who simply won't use them. The excuses
always sound reasonable, and even practical, but I sometimes wonder whether the
excuses are real, or just convenient. Of course, sometimes I am the one making
the excuses.
In the end, I have come to believe that most of the time, most people manage to
do what they really want to do. We usually find a way to make life work the way
we want it to work, and we usually find a way to get out of doing the things we
truly dislike.
Life is a series of choices. Take control of your life, quit making excuses, and
do what really matters. That choice is up to you.
Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please
authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances
dictate.
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