I feel like every day someone asks me what I do for a job. I say substitute and they ask what subject. I tell them math and they always say I won't have any trouble finding a job next year. I offer a thank you and explain that I have chosen to move to Haiti to be a missionary instead of finding a job. Then the same thing always happens....they say, "Oh......well good luck with that." I even had a coach at a local high school call me because he heard I got a job at his school. He was very sad to hear my explanation and then the same thing. "Oh, well good luck with that. Bye." click.
I always wonder what they are thinking when I tell them that I am moving to Haiti. Some are excited but most can't grasp why I would give up everything and move there, even for a year. Just yesterday I was thinking...is this the right thing? And then God gave me a HUGE push that I am doing the right thing. It's not like he isn't ever giving me small nudges that I am doing the right thing but yesterday he wanted to push me down on my knees. In the blog before last, I talked about how God was putting on my heart to love Him and love others. Coincidentally, the Reeves family (the family I will be helping in Haiti) have the same agenda. Here is an part of their last post:
"The scriptures come alive as we see why Jesus said forget everything else and Love your God and Love others. True religion. Love God...Love others. In America and on the mission field we make it so complicated. We have to remember that we feed, educate, train, house, and heal BECAUSE we love. We don't do it to get the right to share the gospel of Jesus. We don't do it because we feel sorry for them. We don't do it because we are trying to earn God's favor. We do it because GOD has placed a love in our hearts for our people. BECAUSE we love them, of course we share the truth of the Bible and the Living God. We could never say we truly love them if we did not care about their greatest need... to know God and Love HIM.
...We all need and want the same thing... to know the answer to "why am I here and how do I make my life count". All the answers are made available to us in God's word but we spend our lives WORKING and STRIVING and often miss the opportunities to just love people and find our place. "
I talked about the people around me and my friends in my blog. Thanks to God for wrapping up Haiti in it too :-) There is such confirmation in our blogs matching up that my heart is in the right place right now, lined up with the people I will be living out the Gospel with in a little more than 3 months. Today I smiled and thanked them with a joyous heart when I heard, "Oh...good luck with that."
:) Hi hunny,
ReplyDeleteI'm still SO EXCITED for your trip. I think we need to start discussing more of the details. I'm sorry if you are discouraged by what others are saying. Their lack of understanding breaks my heart a little bit as they clearly do not understand God's love and His call in our lives, what we are really here to do! I'm stoked about the family you will be working with/for. I know they will pass so much wisdom to you! I hope you blog about it as much as possible to share with us. I love you.
Lindsey! I love how God is changing your heart and your perspective even in just 3 short blog paragraphs. You are constantly pushing into God, searching for His will, direction, and encouragement as you usher into this new phase of your life. That is awesome to see! I cant wait to see what God has for you next year!
ReplyDeleteNo luck needed! Thank you for your encouraging example of many things, but what stands out among others is your discipline, consistency, and courage.
ReplyDeleteyay! this is so exciting. isn't so incredibly heart warming when God gives us such sweet and intricate confirmations. He is so gentle. I'm so excited for you Lindsey. I really admire you and your strength and your willingness. don't be discouraged by peoples' reactions as hard as that may be, they don't understand and they won't understand, but it is so obvious that you are walking straight into His will. how wonderful!
ReplyDeleteExciting!! I love when things match up and it is very encouraging to see that your heart and theirs are aligned. By the way, the post about love that they wrote was really something I loved. So thanks for posting that because it was a good reminder for me!
ReplyDeletegood good good and praise Him who blessed you in this way. : )
ReplyDeletei am so pumped for you lindsey!!! what an awesome confirmation the Lord gave you when you started to have a seed of doubt. Man haiti is going to be such a blessing for you. It's so exciting thinking about how fruitful your ministry is going to be since God has totally ordained this to be the calling in your life (at least the first one anyway).
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for you to embark on this journey in Haiti! I love how God continually has confirmed you going there when several things seems to cloud the idea of going. What the family wrote is so true and inspiring. It is so true that God's Love in us should be the root of our desire to serve. I'll be praying for you my friend :) Love you!
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