What is greatness?
What is greatness? Are we born great? Do we wake up one morning and decide that we're going to be great and do great things? Did Barrack Obama always know what he was meant to be? What does that feel like? Knowing your purpose is great. Accepting the responsibility that the lives of other people will be changed by your thoughts and actions.
I wonder what my purpose is... Am I meant to do something great? Sometimes I feel invisible in a crowd... but I think I do that intentionally. I don’t want to be part of the crowd. I want to just be me.
My dad is a great man. His actions did not change the world. But they changed my world and the worlds of my family. He started out with nothing. Poverty in South Africa is a norm. There are millions. And then there are the millions who don’t see it. My dad lived it. He was one of 8 kids. His dad abandoned them and his mom did her best as a single mother who had nothing. When he was 8, my dad was a gardener on weekends. He used to walk 10kms to his bosses house. He used to look at the school across the road and when the bells rang, he knew that soon he would get something to eat. They treated him badly. He wasn’t allowed in the house. He ate in the garage and there was a special cup and plate for him to use because he was considered dirty. He slaved away for years. When he went to school he would garden on the weekends. He was paid so little to work so hard.
When he finished school, he joined a utilities company. My dad worked there for 35 years. He saved every penny so that we could have a better life. I remember that we'd go on holiday every year... or second year if it was a particularly rough year. One year we went to Spieonkop... it was a nowhere place but to us it was a wonderful holiday. But with apartheid, you're not allowed to go everywhere. We were going to lunch one day. It was a treat because we very rarely ate out. So we went to this nice looking restaurant and were told it was whites only... I was just a kid but I felt horrible. To be judged just by the colour of our skin. We weren’t white enough.... and we weren’t black enough for the restaurant down the road... My dad saved for a year so that we could go out and our money wasn’t worth anything because of the colour of our skins. The sweat and tears he had shed that year was worth nothing....
But he didn’t stop. We left that restaurant and ate somewhere else. And my dad still jokes about that "whites only" restaurant but we all know that stung more than we care to admit. He continued to work hard. And as the years progressed we moved above poverty. He’s retired now. He retired well off but he wants to go back to work...lol. He wants to generate revenue.
I often wonder what it takes for a man to be like that. To look discrimination in the eye and still be strong. God has blessed my entire family through my dad. Our lives are so drastically different from the world he had to grow up in. My dad was a minister and is again. He left the church for a while because he was tired of the hypocrisy. But now he’s back. His love and dedication for God has led me to believe that he is the reason we are so favoured.
What now? I need to do something. To just be mediocre is an insult to his hard work and the favour God has on my life. It’s not my life, is it? It’s a life God has given me. So what exactly am I going to do with it?
I wonder what my purpose is... Am I meant to do something great? Sometimes I feel invisible in a crowd... but I think I do that intentionally. I don’t want to be part of the crowd. I want to just be me.
My dad is a great man. His actions did not change the world. But they changed my world and the worlds of my family. He started out with nothing. Poverty in South Africa is a norm. There are millions. And then there are the millions who don’t see it. My dad lived it. He was one of 8 kids. His dad abandoned them and his mom did her best as a single mother who had nothing. When he was 8, my dad was a gardener on weekends. He used to walk 10kms to his bosses house. He used to look at the school across the road and when the bells rang, he knew that soon he would get something to eat. They treated him badly. He wasn’t allowed in the house. He ate in the garage and there was a special cup and plate for him to use because he was considered dirty. He slaved away for years. When he went to school he would garden on the weekends. He was paid so little to work so hard.
When he finished school, he joined a utilities company. My dad worked there for 35 years. He saved every penny so that we could have a better life. I remember that we'd go on holiday every year... or second year if it was a particularly rough year. One year we went to Spieonkop... it was a nowhere place but to us it was a wonderful holiday. But with apartheid, you're not allowed to go everywhere. We were going to lunch one day. It was a treat because we very rarely ate out. So we went to this nice looking restaurant and were told it was whites only... I was just a kid but I felt horrible. To be judged just by the colour of our skin. We weren’t white enough.... and we weren’t black enough for the restaurant down the road... My dad saved for a year so that we could go out and our money wasn’t worth anything because of the colour of our skins. The sweat and tears he had shed that year was worth nothing....
But he didn’t stop. We left that restaurant and ate somewhere else. And my dad still jokes about that "whites only" restaurant but we all know that stung more than we care to admit. He continued to work hard. And as the years progressed we moved above poverty. He’s retired now. He retired well off but he wants to go back to work...lol. He wants to generate revenue.
I often wonder what it takes for a man to be like that. To look discrimination in the eye and still be strong. God has blessed my entire family through my dad. Our lives are so drastically different from the world he had to grow up in. My dad was a minister and is again. He left the church for a while because he was tired of the hypocrisy. But now he’s back. His love and dedication for God has led me to believe that he is the reason we are so favoured.
What now? I need to do something. To just be mediocre is an insult to his hard work and the favour God has on my life. It’s not my life, is it? It’s a life God has given me. So what exactly am I going to do with it?
Comments
Yours in Christ,
graycladunits
I'm not pushing anything right now. I believe that God is control and he has the plan. So until the opportunity is revealed I'm going to keep my eyes peeled and pray I have the courage to do whatever I need to do.