[mashshare]
Six months ago this week, I was in a serious sliced pickle. A friend in Boise, Idaho, was moving across town under unusual circumstances with little warning and needed some budget-friendly help. Knowing my family has connections in Boise, she reached out with a desperate plea.

“Do you know anyone in the area who might be willing to help me this Saturday morning?”

We discussed the challenge of such short notice but I promised to do my best. After striking out with a Facebook post, I felt prompted to call a friend I hadn’t spoken to in far too long, but whom I knew had the heart of a servant.

Derrick Legg and I served missions together in Brazil in the 1990s. This Nampa, Idaho, native was among the most universally loved and respected I met during our two years in that beautiful country. By simply being himself, he made you want to be a better disciple of Christ.

Being near him reminded you that heaven is real, because Legg’s genuine goodness could only come from God.

I didn’t have my old friend’s number, so I contacted him on social media. My phone rang so fast I was sure it couldn’t possibly be him.

Within just a few blinks of explaining the dilemma, apologizing for the time crunch and inviting him to help, he was off the phone with a promise to do everything he could.

“Everything he could,” I soon discovered, meant significant sacrifice to help a stranger in need.

On the first weekend of October every year, Legg and his family have a tradition of watching a semi-annual church conference on television. I already knew that sessions for all ages take place twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday, and the first session would air live at the exact hour he was being asked to serve this woman he’d never met who belongs to a different faith.

But for Legg, the choice was clear. When the rest of his family gathered around the television to be taught the word of God, Legg was out living it.

I’ve thought of this experience often over the last six months and a few days ago I contacted my pal to reminisce and ask if he’d share it with the world. Legg was reluctant for public praise, but agreed to an interview if the experience might somehow help another.

“Jason,” he began, “you know the first weekend of October is sacred. But I knew if you were willing to ask for a favor for a friend from 2,400 miles away, they had to be in a real bind and you were desperate.”

Legg recalled our initial discussion and his thought process for choosing to leave his family that morning for a few hours.

“I remember speaking to your friend on the phone and even though skipping the Saturday morning session wasn’t ideal, it was the only time that worked for her and I needed the chance to serve,” Legg said. “We all have this opportunity in the church, but there are times that sometimes I feel that I get far from where the rubber meets the road. I was busy with my normal church duties as everyone is, but this felt like a real opportunity to reach out and help someone not of our faith, and do some good in the world.”

This humble man shared his memories of the morning meeting my friend, helping to pack, loading the truck with beds, dressers and couches.

“It felt good to be doing something for someone that really needed a helping hand, no matter what I missing,” he said.

On that October day, Legg sent me a text message to express gratitude for the opportunity. While I was thanking him, he was explaining how the morning reminded him to practice what he preached. Plus, with the blessing of technology, he’d been able to catch up on all he’d missed.

Then, as I suspected he would, Legg emailed me one of his favorite passages of scripture: James 1:22-25.

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

“I needed this,” Legg said as our interview wrapped. “I needed to own my acts and not just ponder them. Each of us has got to keep looking out for those in need and never be afraid to ask from 2,400 miles away. I know I needed this reminder on the importance of service, and I was blessed more than anyone.”

Lesson learned.

[mashshare]

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