It’s amazing how one decision can change not only your life but potentially the lives of generations that follow.
Yesterday, a friend at church told a story about a “cherry pie that became a calling.”
His mom decided to make a pie one afternoon. Because it was cooling on the counter and she wanted to share it, she and her husband invited another couple—missionaries home on furlough from Thailand—over for dessert.
The conversation that evening changed their lives and countless others. Between bites of cherry pie and after some prayer, the couple decided to move their young family to Thailand and join the missionaries in their work.
One Decision Led to Another
That decision led to eight years of living and serving in Thailand, but the story didn’t end there.
Even after returning to the United States, they took groups of college students to work with churches and serve people in Thailand, the Philippines, and Laos every summer for decades.
Lifelong friendships formed. People met the person they would marry. People tried durian and balut and didn’t die—although they told me enough that I’m satisfied without trying either.
Most importantly, countless lives were changed by God’s love—both those who went and those who welcomed them.
Their son Kelly, the one telling the story, eventually returned to Thailand as an adult to work in ministry and raised his own family there.
So many lives touched—and it all started when one couple invited another to share some cherry pie.
We All Have a Part to Play
What I love about this story is how it highlights two truths:
There is always more happening behind the scenes than we can see or anticipate.
We all have a part to play in the story.
God had been working in hearts and arranging circumstances long before that invitation. The pie itself didn’t send a family across the world. But making it created an opportunity. Sharing it opened the door to a conversation. That conversation became part of something much bigger.
When we say yes to the nudge to bake the pie, make the invitation, give the talk, teach the class, write the book, offer the coaching, or reach beyond ourselves, there is no way to know how far the reach of our yes may extend.
We may see the immediate result. We may not.
The story may continue through people we never meet and go to places we never visit. A book may encourage someone years after we wrote it. A conversation may give someone the courage to take a step we never hear about. A simple invitation may become the beginning of a calling.
What Is Yours to Do?
We don’t have to understand the entire plan before taking the next faithful step. We simply need to recognize the part that is ours and be willing to say yes.
What small invitation, idea, or act of obedience has shaped your life?
And what might you be feeling called to say yes to now?
I love knowing that we are always part of something bigger. Our lives—and our work—are never only about us.
Honestly, that gives me hope.
