Earlier this week, I published a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds I will need record my debut EP. Kickstarter is a crowd-funding website that allows folks to publish projects online that can then be funded by friends, family, and randos. The best part is that the one hosting the project gets to give rewards back to his or her donors!

 

If you’re anything like me, you don’t like being served by people. For as long as I can remember, I’ve liked being independent because it releases me of that weird binding feeling that says I owe someone a favor. I probably even tried to spoon feed myself as a baby (ya, I’m that bad). Yet now, at a moment of amazing opportunity, I am totally at the mercy of others. I wrote a song last year called “Ain’t Life a Funny Thing,” and I think that song title fits swimmingly with my predicament.

 

It’s hard to let people serve us. We’re raised in a culture where autonomy is an attractive quality and dependence is commonly associated with weakness. Pride wins an Oscar when we live with this mentality. We begin to think that we can live alone in times of need, but that is far from the truth.

 

Drew Holcomb, a singer-songwriter based out of Tennessee, once told me that if someone wants to serve you, let him or her serve you. I know that doesn’t sound like a Buddha- level quote, but it sure does speak a lot of truth. Not letting people serve you is selfish, and I will stand by that statement. People enjoy serving! It is a way of expressing appreciation and love towards one another, and we shouldn’t deprive them of that right– even if it does make us feel vulnerable, weak, and uncomfortable. I believe serving is as fulfilling to the server as it is the one being served. I bet God made it that way for a reason.

 

As I raise funds to record my debut EP, I am left with the question “why do people donate to me?”. I feel unworthy of their support and still have the feeling that I owe something in return. See where I’m going with this yet? Jesus is hidden in this Kickstarter campaign. After about four thousand coffee dates with friends, I’ve come to realize “why me?” is a pretty popular question. We feel undeserving and unworthy at times in our relationship with God, yet Jesus still loves. He always has and always will have compassion for us. There is nothing we can do to change that, and there is nothing we can give Him in return. We can only receive. Sounds like a pretty sweet gig to me.

 

So for my short 30 day project (and not a minute longer.. just kidding), I am going to rid my pride and let myself be served because I know I will gain a greater appreciation for friendships, family, and Jesus. As a result, my only response will be to serve others the way I’ve been served. To those of you who have donated, you’ve showed me what it means to have a heart of a servant– just like Jesus. Sometimes you just can’t do everything on your own.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/34223898/taylor-cochrans-debut-ep

 

Thanks

 

 

Taylor