Just Show Up (for Six-Minute Speeches)

When I was asked about a month ago to share a few words for the Senior Recognition CommUnity this week, I somehow knew right away what I wanted to talk about. It took some time to find the stories and fill it out, but lately I've been thinking a lot about the value of showing up. It's just one of those unprecedented times...what else can we do? And yet how often do I run and hide or distract myself or check out? It's something I'm still praying about, and a goal in front of me. In case it's a helpful reminder for others, here's the 6-minute speech that I was so nervous about a few days ago. (It went well. I did not pass out.)

Good morning everyone, and especially Seniors. You have honored me with your invitation to share a few words from my heart as you start thinking about the transition ahead. Although many of you know that being up front is not my favorite place to be, I am showing up to share with you the value of showing up.

 

It was a Tuesday morning in September, only a few weeks into my Freshman year of college. On my way back from meeting with a professor, I stepped into the administration building to sign up for my very first blood drive. Right after I registered, my aunt, who worked there, found me and pulled me into a hallway, pointing to a small tv hanging from the ceiling. That’s where I first watched the twin towers falling as she tried to catch me up on the events of September 11 that were still unfolding. It was so hard to believe it was real. But as I sat in the mobile blood donation clinic listening to news reporters give updates and plead for blood donations, it started to sink in. The world had just changed. Did showing up to class even matter anymore? Would I be able to get a degree? Or a job? Was there any way to help with all the pain we saw and heard on the news? There were so many questions, so much uncertainty. I didn’t know how to process it all or what to do next except…just keep showing up. Donating blood, going to class, showing kindness, resisting fear, and praying.

 

Life continued over the next few years with big and small moments of showing up. I failed sometimes, but I was doing my best. After grad school, God opened the way for me to serve at a small school on the island of Yap in Micronesia—twice. On the second round, I learned another life lesson about showing up. 

I had just returned to Yap after a few months of recovery from dengue fever, which I don’t recommend by the way. Sitting in the office on my first day back, I was a bit lost. I realized that the school had managed to get along just fine without me, which was great, but humbling. I mean, I had fundraised all over again and traveled thousands of miles back across the ocean to this tiny island—but why? What if I wasn’t needed? What was my purpose here? Setting aside my frantic drive to feel productive, I took a breath and asked God what HE wanted me to do the rest of the year. I don’t always hear answers to questions like that, but I did that day. He said: “I just want you to pray.” I was like “Really God? That’s it? Ok, fine. I don’t know what else to do, so if you say that’s enough, I’ll focus on praying.” 

A few minutes later I walked outside, stepped off a retaining wall and instantly felt pain shooting up my leg. My foot had landed on a plastic bottle that rolled under me, dislocating my foot and fracturing my leg. While staff and students rushed around to help, I lay on my back and watched the clouds drift by. “Well God,” I thought. “I have no control over this situation, so you’ll have to figure this out. And I guess I’ll have extra time to pray.” 

Over the next few months of surgery and hobbling around campus on crutches, God taught me the meaning of showing up. It wasn’t just about doing things—because I couldn’t do a lot. It was about being present, slowing down, listening, paying attention—to people and God.  It was about handing over burdens that were too heavy for me and making space for GOD to show up and do a deeper work than I ever could.

 

So today, I am showing up here to tell you these stories because I want to encourage you in this moment. The world is changing, and your world is changing. If you are feeling a little anxious about that, here is my encouragement for you: Just show up.

 

If you need some more inspiration, look at Jesus. Look at His life of showing up for others—for an outcast woman, for crowds seeking healing and truth, for friends on a stormy sea, for His own execution and resurrection. For you. In your uncertainties, you are not alone. He also wants to show up for you and through you. So, with His help…

 

For the next few months of classes, it might be tough, but keep showing up.

When you don’t feel fully prepared for what’s next, it’s ok. Just show up, and take one step at a time.

When your job interview feels super intimidating, just show up.

When the conversation feels too difficult, show up anyway.

When the world seems too complicated and you have no idea how you can make a difference…don’t give up--just keep showing up, even in small ways. 

When you question your faith and have your doubts about God and His goodness, just show up. God is closest in your honesty.

In your emotions, your relationships, your challenges, your overcoming—whatever you do, just keep showing up…and I believe you will find that you have fully lived and loved and prepared well for this life and the next, by God’s grace.