Finding Balance

When I was in Mrs. Roberts fourth grade Sunday School class, I remember being asked: 

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Without hesitation I proudly proclaimed that I wanted to be "a missionary."

Well, here I am. All grown up. And recently Ive been reflecting on my life, and I believe that I have realized my childhood dream. I believe I have grown into a missionary. 

It's taken me a while to see it, to own it, to admit it. You see, when I was a girl in fourth grade, I had turned the mission field into some wild and exotic land full of adventure and mystery. 

Now that I'm an adult I realize that 99% of mission work isn't like that. You see, it is my firm belief that God has called my family to be missionaries right here in my hometown of Stockton CA. 

I cannot imagine myself living anywhere else. I want my children to grow up here. My heart bleeds for the people living here. My time, money and patience are poured out on the people here. 

I have friends who are missionaries in Japan and Costa Rica, Hawaii and Nicaragua, India and Mexico. And when conversing while them,  I have come to realize that I am doing the same thing here, that they do over seas. I teach five days a week. On Tuesday Brandon is away leading a celebrate recovery class. On Wednesday he leads our church youth group (12-18) of 20+ students and I lead our jr. Youth of 40 kids (3-11).

On Thursdays I host a women's bible study from 6-8 and then Brandon and I co-lead a college bible study from 8-10. On many a Friday night we are leading or Brandon is away leading some sort of youth event and on Sundays we attend church where I rotate through my assigned week of nursery duty. 

Brandon is mentoring 2 young men as they are sobering up from their former lifestyles in dedication to The Lord daily, whereupon these men eat dinner and sleep over on a regular occasion. My front door might as well revolve with the number of people that come through it on a weekly basis. 

In all this, I share not to complain nor boast. But rather to share a lesson that I learned from Mother Theresa on our mission trip to India in 2007. 

When mother Theresa was once interviewed, she was asked a question "how does one know where God is calling them to serve." And her humbled answer was as such: " begin where God has put you."