If I had tentacles, I would try not to sting you.

The following is a collection of quotes from an article in InTouch magazine about Phil Vischer, the CEO of Big Idea productions (most popularly known for VeggieTales) that recently went out of business after a lawsuit. Phil reflects in the article on how he went through a phase of 'why God, if this was Your will' to 'got it, I transformed it to my own,' and his growth through the process.

-In talking about serving God, and desiring to change the world at one time--"And we're so obsessed with our ambition that we're almost useless. I realized I was so wrapped up in my ambition that I didn't even have the energy to make eye contact with the girl at the grocery store who was bagging my groceries" [perhaps there was an opportunity there]
...here he reflects on how we can be so focused on working for God that we miss what God is telling us to do...don't just seek to do good, seek to do God's.

-Phil's newest venture post-VeggieTales, pay attention to why it's called this--" Well, my new company is called Jellyfish Labs--very intentionally, because jellyfish can't choose their own course. They can't locomote. They are carried by the current. And they have to trust the current will take them where they need to be to keep them alive...for a jellyfish to make a 20-year plan-it's humorous. It's lunatic. I had viewed myself as a big macho barracude in the ocean of life. In reality, I was a jellyfish--basically, a spineless bag of goo that has no form."

--What he learned, to sum up: "In reality, if I've given Christ lordship of my life, and if I understand the concept of lordship, where I am in 20 years is really none of my business. It's my business to say,'okay, God, what have You called me to do today.' And that may have more to do with how I treat the girl who's bagging my groceries than my big plans to change the world."

This article is timely. As I sit and think about what I will be doing in a year when I graduate there are lots of options on my plate--Do I want to travel, further my education, get married and settle down, start a career, etc.? And at the top of my to do list in life seems to be this deep desire to change the world. I want-- that part at the end of a movie where everyone is happy, and hugging, and the joyous triumphant music plays--I want to make that happen. My heart breaks for all the pain in the world--here at home and abroad, and I realize more and more everyday that I cannot fix it all. In fact, sometimes I have problems even fixing that which is directly in front of me. Quite frankly, I don't deal well with failure. I am coming to realize though, as it seems Phil Vischer did when his company and life investment crashed, that I cannot fix everything and I cannot change the world. In fact, I can't even get up in the morning without the help of my Heavenly Father. I'm completely useless--and I'd be completely lifeless without Him.

I just returned from a trip to China where I was faced with poverty, lower conditions of living (even for the wealthier), different traditions, and a large amount of hopelessness. Some of these people travel to and from work everyday with nothing on their mind but survival, others have no concept of why they do what they do--they just don't want to be rejected socially, and still others are depressed and lonely, longing to feel truly loved and known by someone. While we are in a world filled with people who are flawed and make mistakes, there is one love that cannot be a mistake, that doesn't leave a person, and that guides people to help them figure out just what exactly they are doing here...that love is from Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that I know Him. I'm grateful that I can acknowledge that though I am a screw up in so many ways and I certainly have my faults, He still takes me, is patient with me, loves me and forgives me.

I'm still figuring out what I want to do in a year. I'll be honest to say that I'm uncertain at times about my investments in this life--be it relationships, money, career, or school. But I'm learning slowly and often painfully that I'm not God's gift to the whole world, I can't fix the whole world, and I can't do very much at all without Him. I ask that you pray for me as I come to make these decisions, that I'll impact the right people at the right times, and that I will have patience along the way. May you each, also, be satisfied with where you are today---take Phil's advice and trust the current to take you where you need to be. That current is Jesus Christ.