A few weeks ago, I read the book Unplanned and then attended a prayer event at my church where a portion of the time was spent praying for Life. I immediately checked the website to find out how I could start counseling women there as a volunteer.
And then the next Sunday at church, the AWANA quiz team talked about the awesome effect AWANA has on the lives of children. Reminiscing about my own personal AWANA days, I thought, “My kids need to do that next year.”
And I’m reading right now a biography of Amy Carmichael who served the unloved in India, and my heart has swelled for the unreached.
And we attended a Campus Crusade for Christ event this Saturday and I was impressed w/ the idea of ministering to these kids newly away from the nest.
And then this Sunday I saw pictures of children and women in Cambodia who need the basics of life. I heard a plee for the inner city ministry our church has with Kids Church. I spoke to a women who was on her way to Haiti to bring home a child. And I was recently approached to counsel in a group setting a class for women who are struggling in their marriages. In the hallway, men and women were handing out information about supporting our troops.
And our sermon this Sunday by our Missions Pastor Nate Irwin was on the passage of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25. It was a call to serve others: clothe the needy, feed the hungry, and visit the sick and imprisoned. Oops, I haven’t been to prison or hospitals much lately, need to add that to the list…
And, and, and, and… The ministry options are endless, aren’t they?
I’m often jealous of those who have a single passion. Evangelizing in the city. Supporting a school in Nicaragua. Serve at a food pantry.
Beyond my duties as laid out in Titus, to love my husband and children and be busy at home, how do I choose what to get involved in? There are so many needs! It can sometimes be paralyzing!
I’m of course going to be praying about this with my husband and kids.
But what about you? Do you have a single passion? How do you decide which areas to get involved in?
I don’t have any profound insights. But just want to say I’m encouraged by your wrestling with the upward call of Christ. He deserves all we can give. But focus in our service is not a bad thing to be asking Him to provide…
It seems evident to me that your biggest single and best passion (if I can narrow it down!) outside of being a wife and mother, is helping other women. Whether it is counseling, disciplining, mentoring, encouraging-maybe all of that is really the same thing. Whatever the case, God has gifted you here! It is what I see your heart longing to do and you do it well!
For me, my “single” passion outside of being a wife and mom, which I enjoy so much, is to encourage others and talk about God’s Word and what it looks like to obey it, to live it out. I can’t think of anything else that fires me up more than that!
Each day, each season, God gives us new opportunities to serve him. The best thing I can do to make sure I don’t miss out is to be in prayer with Him and to keep my mind filled with his Word. Through this, I see His working continually and it is much clearer what choices to make. When I slack in my relationship, I miss out.