A Mission of a Different Kind

Day 2 and I'm still down for the count. It's funny how many American idioms have become a part of my vocabulary, even if I don't fully understand what they mean! Anyhow, after a very restful sleep last night that went into the later part of the morning, I woke up feeling content. I am thankful for this illness, not because I enjoy being sick but because it forced me to rest. The last week I'd been running on 6-hour nights because of some personal issues in a different time zone and though I try to sleep more on weekends I usually end up not succeeding very well. I don't mind being sick if it's as mild as this though.

So I spent the day in bed, reading, watching a YouTube video on Esther (which was very good, most of the script was taken verbatim from the Bible), colouring a picture from my flower garden colouring book that I brought back from the US (it now hangs on my wall), playing a game on my phone, and surfing Facebook. Several dear friends checked in to see how I was doing and offer help if I needed any.

By the end of the afternoon I was getting thoroughly bored so I decided to read old emails. I was busily organizing my Sent emails from 2009 into various folders when I came across one that brought tears to my eyes. It was an email I'd sent out to my friends, my twice-a-year-update that was usually very long and detailed. Near the end, I shared a piece from a blog post I'd written earlier that week. As I re-read the post, I substituted MEU for the school I was working with at the time and it fit perfectly. I'll copy it here below.

I'm excited because I am reminded again why I am at MEU and what my mission in life is at present. My mission in life is not to travel the seven seas, reaching people on distant islands, it is not to hike tall mountains and share the gospel with remote tribes, it is not to pull people out of the grasp of sin through inner-city ministries, it is not to live on a farm in some deserted area far removed from the city and it is not to journey to foreign countries and convert souls by the thousands. My mission in life is to do exactly what I do now. To be the best assistant, advisor, counselor, and friend to as many as I can who come to MEU. My mission field is right here, near the city but not in it, enabling missionaries to go out but not going as one, supporting the sharing of the gospel in an indirect way and yet seeing results all the time as one by one, the young people leave this campus, faith strong and ready to change the world.

This is why I am here and I don't have to go anywhere else to find this experience. It's right here.

There will be days I question my purpose and whether I really am making a difference when the majority of my time is spent sitting in committees and sending emails. But when I remember that my mission in life is to be the one holding up Moses' arms, as it were, then I am encouraged. I am encouraged to stay and I am encouraged to keep going for my God has a plan for my life and He is fulfilling it right here and now.