Hey All,
Thank you for taking the time to check out my latest adventure with the Lord! This post is about where I am right now and how I've been lead to this particular trip at this specific time in my life. It's a doozie, and a long one at that--so feel free to skip around to the "good parts"!
You may have read in my last blog that I felt the Lord calling me to do some sort of mission work. Well, God being all-knowing and having perfect timing, has beautifully orchestrated a trip for me. Well...okay, I finally realized that I will never have six months off to conveniently go serve Him in another country, and that if I am truly dedicated to this calling, I'll have to clear my schedule for six months and just go. In other words, a trip like this may be in His plan for me, but I have to decide that I'm willing. I have to drop my net, chase the lion, put Him first, and GO.
That sounds easy, right? Hmm...no. Not quite. You see, I've always been a bit of a planner. (Those of you that don't know me may nod in agreement, those that know me well are laughing at how I understated my love of planning things out...) Alright, yes. I am a huge planner. So, naturally, God likes to remind me that His plans are far greater (Jeremiah 29:11 gets me every time) and that it's His timing I should be in tune with. That's how I ended up leaving for college at the still-in-the-cradle age of 16 and will be graduating in May months before my 21st birthday. God's timing and I have an ironic and ongoing relationship. I can sum it up for you though; His timing always wins. His plans are always better.
All of that being said, when I felt a tug (ahem, huge pull) at my heart to pursue some sort of mission work, I thought I'd just add it to my five year plan. Oh, how I wish I was joking. It went a little something like this: BA in Psychology at 20, Master's in Counseling by the age of 23, a year doing mission work, then back in the US with a job and my license to counsel by 25--just in time to settle down and have kids. I am quite sure that God had a good laugh at that plan. Looking back, I can chuckle as well.
Yes, I will still be graduating in May. But I quickly realized that after six years of college and wanting to get 2 solid years of job experience in Social Work before completing my Master's, that I would be quite comfortable in my little bubble after finishing my second degree. I'm sure I'd have a decent job with a prospective promotion, a pay increase with a higher degree, a nice apartment with a pinterest load of decorations, maybe energy enough for a PhD, and plenty of time to--uh. Wait. When am I supposed to take a year off to go do mission work? Can I really be out of the work scene for a year? What about that license to counsel? What about having kids? What about Aggie Football?
And that's when it hit me. I'd say "when I realized" or "the thought came to me"--but no. When I say this "hit me", I mean it darn near literally. It was a moment of clarity that I'm truly thankful for. It floored me entirely when I realized I'd easily spend the next 30 years telling God that I'd go share His love with the world--as soon as it was convenient for me. Ouch, right? The truth is, it will never be completely convenient to uproot my life for several months at a time to go work in another country. But taking the time to go as soon as possible, putting His work before my personal gains, and clearing my schedule for Him to work in my life? That sounds more like it. That sounds like what I wanted way back when--before school and job applications and graduate studies and the list of all the worldly things that keep so many people from ministry if they let it. That sounds like an adventure, and I like the sound of that.
The best way I can describe this heart-tugging feeling of needing to look and apply to mission trips is that it became persistent. When God puts something on your heart, it doesn't fade over time; it grows. I found myself Google-ing jobs in other countries working with orphans, looking into Seminary for degrees in Counseling that could be used in a mission work environment, asking again about that family friend with a teaching job in Honduras, and searching for a trip that resonated with my heart--not my calendar.
I ended up on the website of Experience Mission, looking in their Immersion Programs. Six months, domestic and international missions, living with the locals, learning how to be a missionary, working as a team, manual labor, sharing the Gospel, and serving those in need. These were the descriptions I found on their website that instantly struck chords with me. I applied instantly and had an answer by midway through August. Then, something wonderful happened. I got crazy, off-my-rocker, joy-of-the-Lord, excited. Excited to shower out of a bucket and put off Seminary for six months; so at peace in my heart that living the Word before I go to spend two years studying it is going to prepare my heart for more ministry, assured and reassured and reminded constantly that God must be doing work in my life. He is, and I have never had such a certain and unshakable joy like I do now.
So, sure. I could try secular graduate school and have a comfortable living with a nice salary, work hard to get ahead of my competition, climb the corporate latter, and be "successful". But after hearing stories and seeing the work God does in these orphanages and the healing that comes to these children in such desolate situations, I can't think of any job I want more. Suddenly that nice two-story house and BMW don't seem important. And more honestly, I don't think they'd make me happy. As I've looked back over my work experience, the two times I've enjoyed myself the most were working with children, and doing manual labor at a Church camp (yes, me, doing manual labor, It has to be a God thing, right?).
So, I'm headed to South Africa to continue that work, share the joy, and proclaim His love to some beautiful children. I can honestly say I've never been so excited--to go shower out of a bucket, live in a mud hut, and do some work for my Savior. I don't have my five year plan written out anymore, but by His grace it is so much better than anything I could come up with.
"Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel" Ephesians 6:19
