Missions

This isn't so much an update about what I've been doing, but just some thoughts I'd like to share. I've had this week off to rest a bit from training before I go to the office. Honestly it's been a bit boring to have a week off in a place where I don't yet have friends or connections or transportation to go to places I want to go. It has, however, been a great time to think about life.

Growing up, mission trips were always one of my favorite things. I love to serve. It was so great for me to have a week or two of nothing to worry about except loving others and exerting all my energy on doing things that were so fulfilling.

I wondered what it would be like to spend more than just a week or two focused on serving. Now that I'm here living mission trip life almost every day, I have realized that I already knew what it felt like. Service is a lifestyle... missions is a lifestyle. The last four years of working at SBU and Gitche Gumee Bible Camp and helping at church have got me used to a lifestyle of service. So yes, maybe now I sleep in tents sometimes and eat cow intestines and chicken bones and can't find Dr. Pepper in the store... but that doesn't make me any more of a missionary than you. The opportunities I have here are just like the ones I had at home. I'm not saying I have this missions thing down, but I've just been wondering about how many opportunities I have passed up over the years because I was waiting to go somewhere else rather than making the most of every opportunity where I was. All of us are called to Go and preach the Gospel, making disciples of all nations (and our nation is part of all nations, too).

This week is Spring Break for many, and I've seen a number of photos of people who've had the opportunity to go on Mission Trips over break. As always, it's a wonderful experience and people love it and they will miss it when they come home. I totally know the feeling! Hold on to that feeling! Take what you learned from other cultures about the joys in life and being content with what you have. Don't forget the smiling little faces that looked up at you or the awesome things you got to experience - or the strange things you got to eat. Remind yourself that the feeling doesn't have to end when you come home. Get plugged in at home and live that life every day. Missions is a lifestyle that we are all called to and it's not bound by country or workplace or culture. Don't be afraid to get up and go when God says go, but until He says that don't forget to stay when he says stay and do what He has called you to do.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in (Missouri/Illinois/wherever you live) and in all (the United States), and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8, modified to fit us where we are

Prayer points:

• I'm still apartment searching. And also now car shopping. Pray for wisdom and guidance!
• Pray for opportunities every day to serve others and share the good news. Not just for me, but for you, too, if you really mean it.