Wonderful Tragedy

What a wild ride it's been this week - mostly good, but with a touch (okay a lot) of sadness. David and Christine left for Haiti on Monday morning. This is the culmination of their dreams, and prayers, and hard work - it's so exciting and wonderful!! You could tell when they left that they were excited and ready to go! As a parent, that's the ultimate - to send your kids off knowing that they are in the center of God's will and doing what He has asked them to. How can I not be happy and excited for them?

All week they have been on my mind and in my prayers - what are they doing? Are they settling in okay? How's the food (you know, the important questions)? But at the same time there is that side of me that is going to miss them - a lot. I know that as we hit holidays and those times we would see them that there will be a big hole. One that can't be filled, but one that is a reminder of their sacrifice. It's a good reminder of what is important in life. I do admit I was so excited when David called last night - it was a brief conversation, but a good one. I am so thankful for technology that allows me to talk with my son who is thousands of miles away in a third world country - the connection was bad and we had trouble hearing each other - but it was him! It made my day. However, I don't want to get sucked into sadness or depression because they are gone - I want to rejoice in the fact that they are serving the Creator of the Universe in a very tangible, wonderful way - how amazing is that!! Besides, I'm so very proud of them for persevering and not giving up when the going got tough (and it did get tough), and for being willing to be who God wants them to be.

What am I doing to sacrifice? Am I serving God in the way that He has called me? I know that not everyone is called to live overseas as a missionary, but we are all called to be missionaries. We all have our own mission field. David and Christine could not be doing what they are doing if people didn't support them - and people can't support them without finances - which means most likely they have jobs. That's their mission field. We all live in neighborhoods - that's our mission field. Am I in the field? Am I sharing the good news? Am I sowing and planting and reaping?

Working in a church and not having kids in public school any more makes me realize how few non-believing friends I have - that's so not okay. So that begs the question - how do I change that? What is my mission field? How do I make the changes I need to? As I ponder all of this my prayer has to be - Lord, help me to be in the field that you want me to be!