"I may wonder what kind of mission God has for me, when I should ask what kind of me God wants for his mission. We invite God’s blessing on our human-centered mission strategies, but the only concept of mission into which God fits is the one of which he is the beginning, the centre, and the end." -- Christopher J H Wright, “Learning, unlearning, and relearning to be effective in God’s mission"
Every child raised in a Christian home, and even some who aren't, learn the Lord's Prayer at an early age. "Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." But how often do we stop there and contemplate what that really means, or whether we really mean it?
Seriously. What if the only thing you wanted from the time you were a teenager was to have a big family, but God's will was that you remain childless? What if you are married to the love of your life, but God's will was that he, or she, leave you and join Him in heaven? What if you love your job, love where you live, and are surrounded by supportive, loving friends and family, but God's will is that you move to another city or another country? If that were you, and that were God's will, would you still mean it when you pray "thy will be done"? OK, now add the kicker.."as it is in heaven." No excuses, no "right after this, God", no "but I'm not qualified!" Just stop, drop and obey.
I was born a stubborn, strong-willed, hard-headed girl. Obedience and submission don't come naturally. Learning to live for God's will and not mine has been a long and sometimes painful process. But I have to tell you, every single time I've bent my knee to God's will, He's blessed me beyond measure. Oh, it's not an easy thing to do, I'll admit. God has rarely asked me to do something within my comfort zone, but that's part of the blessing -- to be stretched, to grow and to see and experience things that I never would have had the chance to had I not obeyed.
Four years ago, we said, "Yes, God, we will obey" when He said He wanted to use us in Kenya. That was the easy part. The hardest part has been being patient and waiting on God's timing to fulfill that call. "When, God? When will your will be done?" For the umpteenth time, we've changed our departure date. Honestly, it's a bit embarrassing when people ask, "When are you leaving?" We just don't know. We can tell you what we are hoping for, but it's a human date. Only God knows when He will bring all the logistics together and our feet will leave America and walk on Kenyan soil.
So, our human date has moved from June to August 15. Why August 15th? First and foremost, Ashley's new school starts on the 15th. Second, there is a treasurer conference in South Carolina in September. The conference comes around only every three years and SIM would like me to attend, but I'll need at least an introduction to the field Treasurer job before I can actually get anything out of the conference or know what to bring back. Third, having turned my business over to Envision as of January 1, I'm running out of work and we'll shortly run out of funds to live on while here. (Talk about a motivating factor!)
We're at 15% support right now, we still have several on-line classes to complete, our house isn't even listed (actually we're still trying to figure out if we should sell or not) and August 15th is a little over two months away. But we're praying..a lot..that this human date will be God's will. Will you join us? Just say it with me now..."Vigils in Kenya by August 15th. Vigils in Kenya by August 15. Vigils in Kenya by August 15th." Keep going! Don't stop! God's been known to respond to fervent, constant petitions!
