Hello. Most of you probably know who I am, but for those who don’t I’m Cooper M----. I am going to be a senior at R---- High School and this was my 3rd mission trip. This year our mission team stayed in Marvell, Arkansas for 5 nights, aiding the community by painting a house and a church, and running a day camp for local children.
Now, I know these trips are supposed to be for the good of others, for the good of those we serve; that we’re supposed to be changing their lives for the better. I know that, I do, but looking back over the years what stands out most to me isn’t that I was responsible for turning an orange house purple or building a new porch onto a trailer. What stands out most to me isn’t the change I had on anyone’s life, but they change they had on mine.
Like I said before, most of you probably know me. In the life of this church I haven’t been here very long at all, just 4 years. In my life, those have been 4 long years. Speaking of long I’ve gone through long hair, short hair, and everything in between. I’ve gone through a job. I’ve gone through most of high school. I’ve gone through Drivers Ed. and, thank God, come out the other side in one piece. These past 4 years have been full of experiences that have shaped and changed me drastically from who I was to who I am.
If I had been asked to write and deliver this sermon 4 years ago I don’t think I would have been able. I certainly would not have been willing to. I was a very shy, withdrawn person then with almost no confidence. I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy with the way I looked. I wasn’t happy with the way I acted. I wasn’t happy with who I was.
Maybe those of you who’ve known me long enough remember my hair. If you don’t there’s a picture of it down next to the door of the education wing. My hair was my shield; the wall that kept everyone out and me in. When I met someone new they didn’t notice me, they noticed my hair. It was with that hair and that mentality that I left on the first mission trip. It was with that hair and mentality I would have returned from the first mission trip with, except for one small, chance act.
Bay City was the location of our first trip, well, my first trip at least. When we first got there I couldn’t talk to anyone from the other churches. Andy, Brian, and Julia were just about my only friends there. It wasn’t for a lack of wanting to be with other people I was alone; it was a lack of confidence. It’s hard to believe other people will like you when you don’t like yourself. One day, though, a leader from another church was outside with a pair of hair clippers, giving some boys from his church a trim. I happened to walk past while he was clipping someone and he happened to look up and see my mop of hair. “Do you want a cut?” He asked. I just stood there, rolling the idea around in my head when a girl said “I think you should get a buzz, it would look great.” That was enough for me. I was next in line. One razor width of hair after another fell to the ground; man, that was a big pile of hair. After a few minutes it was done, just like shearing a sheep. What I remember most clearly is as I walked inside I heard one girl to whisper to another “Is that the kid with the hair?”
While it might not have been as noticeable, something much more drastic, at least to me, was about to happen.
On that first trip there was a girl. There always seems to be a girl, doesn’t there? Every movie, book, story; everything has one. Well, this particular girl was named was Mady.
I was absolutely convinced she was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on. Back then of course I would have never said anything to her. Ever. But in the evening after the hair cut I was sitting in the main hallway, writing care cards to some people, when Mady came up and said “I’m going to write you a card.” She took a piece of paper and an orange marker, scribbled the note, and handed it to me. I looked down and on that card were two little words that rocked my world more than anything before or since. “Your cute.”
Those were mind blowing. I had never had a thought like that about myself, and here was the most gorgeous girl I had ever met telling me she thought I was cute. Looking back that note wasn’t very much, but it was more than enough to get the ball rolling and bring some major change into my life.
I think that first year really goes to show how much what you say and do can impact the world. It might be something as noticeable as a fresh coat of paint on a house, but then again it might be no more than a few kind words and a smile. You never know.
Now, this year was much different than the first. This year I had no Andy, no Brian, no Julia. This year the group consisted of me and incoming freshmen at the oldest. I was on my own. The work wasn’t even going to be the same. Instead of just home repair we had to take care of children. But this year it was all alright. I wasn’t shy and apprehensive about the trip; I was excited and ready to do what I could.
The first two days were spent uneventfully painting a house, but I really hit my stride on the third day, when jobs were switched and I had chance to work in the kids club with the local children. I loved them. Marvell was a poor town, but every day a bus went and picked these kids up from Marvell’s “Ghetto” and brought them back to our school. This camp was all they had, all summer. Just 3 hours a day and every 2 days everyone there changed, but they kept coming back. My 2 days were a blast. I was giving piggy back rides and races until I could barely stand. I gave rides to DJ, BJ, TJ, JJ, Jay, and this one little boy named Zach. Zach was a marshmallow, a little 5 year old boy who probably weighed 100 pounds and was my best bud the whole time. Racing him around on my back in 90 degree weather was rough, and the best work out I’ve gotten in a long time, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Actually, I was at the last night cookout Thursday when I felt a familiar tugging on my shoulders. I turned around and there was Zach, beaming up at me, asking for one last piggy back ride.
You never know what that moment that might change someone’s life might be, so of course I gave Zach his piggy back ride.
Besides the cook out Thursday night held the final service or the week, a particularly moving event that brought a number of our team to tears. The first mission trip had a similar service that brought me over the edge, but this year, the only thought I had that kept coming back was how great it felt to really be happy with who you are in the world. And the change that started that was just two little words.
All I really have to say to you is this: what you do impacts the world, even if you never see the results. Do what you can to follow in the Lord’s example and change it for the better.
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Originally Posted by thetortfeasor 
