Hello, my name is Natalie Dache (or, as I’m known here in Moldova, Princessa Natasha, rightful heir to the throne) and I like small children. And when I say like, what I mean is love.
I know, newsflash, right? 😉
This month, one of the ministries we’re partnering with through new Life Pentecostal Church is hanging out with “street kids,” aka kids who don’t really have anywhere to go after school because their home life is so messed up. Here, the kids are fed, they have a safe place to play, and they get to learn some awesome Bible stories presented by yours truly, Team Considered Lost. This week’s lessons were all battle scenes, from our classic David and Goliath (always a crowd pleaser!) to Jericho to Gideon to Jehoshaphat, we learned all week that the battles in our lives are really God’s to fight if we’ll let Him, and we can trust God no matter what (shout out to the virtue wall, anyone?).
Last night, after the dishes were done and the tea was poured and everyone was winding down, Dave and I sat in the kitchen talking about life and things we were learning and, as always, trying to figure out what it means to really live out the Christian life. In the middle of a random tangent about college and why going to seventeen schools perhaps isn’t the most effective use of your time, he subtly slipped in a seriously loaded question:
“Do you think it’s bad if I don’t do engineering when I go home?”
Dave’s an engineer. He loves machines and cars, space and fixing things. Right after college he got a job in his major just like he was “supposed” to. He has the potential to go back and pursue a pretty sweet career, doing what he’s “always wanted” with virtually no more thought needed. But now he’s questioning that, and his question last night was loaded because he wasn’t asking, “do I go back to my old job?” he was actually asking, “do I step out in faith and trust that God will provide?” He’s thinking music, I have youth pastor stamped on his forehead, but regardless of which field, the question is still the same:
Can I trust God no matter what?
We never really leave the basics. Sure, we add on and refine them, we delve into the nuances and polish the edges, but truth will always be truth, and bottom lines for kids (both in rich- but- apathetic Northern Virginia and poor- but- engaged Moldova) is just as important for floundering twenty- somethings questioning their purpose and direction, about where God is calling and if He’ll be there when we trip and fall and stare into the sky wondering why He brought us here.
This is the story of our lives. Every day we have to choose whether or not to live safe lives, tightly in control of every little detail and with at least three emergency backup plans, or we can choose to jump headfirst off the cliff into the deep waters where God is calling us, trusting that when we break the surface we won’t drown, but we will swim out into the ocean of possibilities that He’s prepared for us. Sure, it’s a little scary- some may even say foolish. But if we can trust God no matter what, then come hell or high water, I want to follow where He’s calling me and trust that He’ll see His plans through to completion.
Today, Dave gets to start wrestling through God’s ability to lead him into the future, whether that’s engineering or music. I don’t know where he’ll end up (though I am praying it’s youth ministry). For my own “jumping into the deep,” I’m really beginning to see that my life is probably going to be kids and discipleship. What that means, I have no idea, but for today it means pouring into my team and singing Making Melodies in my Heart to a room full of antsy 7 year olds again and again and again.
“Ministry is the place where your deepest passions meet the world’s deepest needs.”
So now my question is: what’s your ministry? Are you living up to your calling?
(just Dave doing handstands in Ukraine… I'm telling you, youth ministry)
