Here Am I, Send Me!
In October 2023, I began my journey towards becoming a firefighter. I had the great privilege of being part of Dona Ana County Fire and Rescue’s 4th Academy Class. Twenty-four of us began our journey to becoming firefighters in the classroom, on the fire training ground, and on a black top where we were tested every day.
Early in the academy, we were told we needed to come up with a class motto as a team, and that it would be placed on a flag that we would carry with us as a guide-on everywhere we went. If we left it behind or lost track of this flag, instructors stole it or hid it, and we were punished for losing it and had to earn it back with sweat and pain. Usually pushups, burpees, and tower climbs.
I was so proud that our team chose Isaiah 6:8 as our slogan. We quoted the words of the prophet Isaiah as he declared his bold readiness and availability for the Lord to use him, however He saw fit, and to send him wherever he was most needed.
Here am I. Send me!
Each morning before we started, we ran to the top of a three-story training tower, looked out over our city, and shouted these words in unison at the top of our lungs! I don’t know if most of the firefighters in training realized they were shouting scripture or the heavy weight of what they were saying, but I did.
2025 is just around the corner and I thought this declaration would be a powerful one, headed into 2025. I want to live it in such a way that I am at the top of a training tower declaring, “Here am I Lord, send me! Take me where you need me. Let me intersect with those who need me…who need you. Let me be willing to go where I’m sent. Let me face the good, the bad, and the ugly with willful confidence and unbending strength! Let me be willing to walk into danger, if necessary, too…
all for you, Lord!
The life of a firefighter takes place in and around emergencies; in and around environments that often pose immediate dangers to life and health. But they show up, day after day. I was proud to wear the badge of a firefighter, even for a short time. I was proud to accomplish the completion of our academy. I want to model for my boys and live a lifestyle of accepting challenges. Let’s ask ourselves, what mission, assignment, or call is before us today? And then, with target in sight, go with everything we’ve got, right towards it.
Lions roar with their lives. Lions run toward and through grueling challenges and keep moving forward. Lions rise to face every occasion with strength and resolve. Let’s declare over this new year, with loud voices and in chorus with all the lions that have gone before us: Here am I, send me!
Happy New Year, from all of us at Orchard!