MLK: a name, a man, a hero, a world changer.

Today is a day that America has set aside to remember one of the greatest leaders who has ever lived in our country: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To be honest, other than the two Facebook statuses I have read about him today, I have not really thought or "remembered" him at all. Now, this is probably mostly my fault. All I knew was that I got an extra day off of school to study for my upcoming mid-terms. But then I really started thinking about it; I, an American student, got a whole day off of school for a man who was never an American president. The post offices and banks were closed for a man who was hated by many in his lifetime. The news gives a special segment to a man who, some would argue, caused a lot of chaos in our country. So what's the big deal? Why do I get a day off of school for some guy who was just crazy enough to think he might actually be able to change something??

You see, I hope that reading this you're thinking the same thing I am... I'm thinking that because of this ordinary guy, I live in a country where, for the most part, people aren't judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. But you see, I didn't want to write about him because of his incredible speaking abilities or his ability to draw a crowd.  As grateful as I am for being able to live in free country, that's not why I wanted to write about Martin Luther King Jr either. I wanted to write about him because he was a world changer. He wouldn't take compromise for an answer and he was willing to die for a cause that he held very close to his heart. Because of that, I look up to him. I want to be like him because he was a world changer.

Recently, I spent a week in Mexico building a house and teaching little kids about Jesus. Seems pretty stressful, huh? Actually, it was one of the best weeks of my life. I love missions. In fact, I love it so much sometimes I have to remind myself that I was made to worship God, not just be a missionary. To me, nothing, absolutely nothing, can compare to the feeling of seeing someone's face when they realized that an American teenager came hundreds (even thousands) of miles to help them. It's humbling, inspiring, and breathtaking all at the same time. I like to think that the same feeling I get when I look into the eyes of a Mexican woman accepting Jesus for the first time is the same feeling that MLK got when he walked up to that podium and saw the 250,000 people who had gathered to hear him speak. I like to think that it was the same feeling that Paul and Silas felt as they worshipped their hearts out in prison. I like to think that it's the same feeling that Abraham Lincoln had when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. I like to think that it's the same feeling Esther had when she read her Uncle's words "Such a time as this." I believe that it's a God-ordained passion that lives in every single person to do something great, to be someone great.

You see, I don't think that Martin Luther is just as different from you as you may think. He lived in a broken world, so do you. He had resources to fix some of that brokenness, so do you. He was called for "such a time as this," so are you. Let me take this opportunity to encourage you to follow in this great man's footsteps. Do you have a passion? Do you love kids? Do you hurt when you see an orphaned kid on the TV without food? Does your heart beat a little faster when you see a homeless man holding a sign on the corner? Have you ever seen something so horrific it made your heart hurt a little? These, my friend, are signs of compassion. It's a God-given feeling that pushes us towards action. I pray that as you read this, something has been on your mind. Maybe it's someone you know who's hurting, maybe it's a cause. Whatever it is, I pray that this will urge you to do something about it. Because, after all, you were created for such a time as this.