Yesterday was the day I left everything I know to take on the Lord’s mission for my life. The last week has been especially difficult. Saying goodbye to friends and family was challenging at my going away party. Saying goodbye to my boyfriend and parents made my last night an emotional roller coaster. But, here I am, sitting in Atlanta at launch attending final training sessions before we fly to South Africa on the 1st of July.
Is this real life? Am I really leaving Minnesota for 11 months? Am I really going to live out of a pack carried on my back for a year? Am I crazy? Sometimes I think to myself, what in the heck are you doing? But then I remember the Lord called me to this. He called me to live wholly outside of my comfort zone, traveling His nations to serve the least of these. I get the privilege to experience 11 different countries, 11 different cultures, and show so many people the love of Jesus. How blessed am I?
It’s easy to dwell on what I left behind. I have a wonderful boyfriend going about his life at home. I have two great parents who love me. I have many friends and a wonderful church that I’m involved in. Their lives don’t stop moving just because I’m not there. I’m missing out on 11 months. But I’m gaining so much more. The Lord has so much He wants to show me and teach me. There are things He wants me to learn that I can only learn in Africa or Asia. Staying in Minnesota would be easy. It would be safe. But it wouldn’t be what He has for me.
A friend of mine told me a story about a missionary who came to her house to talk to her kids. She handed each one of them a penny and told them to take a good look at it and put it in their pocket. She continued to tell them the story about her ministry and how God used her. She asked them to take the pennies out of their pockets, and she asked them what does the penny say? One cent.
My first week back from Training Camp, Christian and I were walking through a park in Farmington when I happened to look down in the grass and notice a cross. I reached down and picked it up, and it was a penny with the shape of a cross cut out of it. I couldn’t even believe it. I knew the Lord had left it there for me. I proceeded to tell Christian the story that my friend told me about the penny. Then I asked him, what do pennies say on the back? He said, “one cent.” I said, “Yes, one sent.”
No one places value on a penny, just as no one places value on a servant. Many Christians place value on the preachers, prophets, and evangelists, but what about those that are the hands and feet of Jesus? 1 Corinthians 12:23 says, “And those member of the body, which we deem to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor.” God has called me to travel the world with His feet and serve His people with His hands.
God bestows abundant honor on those with humble hearts who go forth into the world and do His will. This is the path He has laid out for me in the next chapter of my life. So, I think to myself, how is the state of my heart? Have I truly examined my character? Lord, please show me how to put Your people before myself.
I don’t know where the Lord will call me, but if I am to lead, mustn’t I first serve? If I am to teach, mustn’t I first learn? If I’m going to set an example for His people, mustn’t I first follow His? He will show me how to do His will and serve His people with a caring, joyful heart. He will put people in my path that only my words can touch, only my touch can comfort, and only my hands can serve.
A penny many not seem like much, but one sent by God can make all the difference. I’m not the only one who’s sent. You’re sent. Do you know where the Lord is calling you?
