Musings from Graceland

IT IS A PRIVILEGE

"People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa....

It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege."

---David Livingstone

Anna arrived home from Thailand yesterday and one of the things we have been talking about is that despite how hard certain aspects of her Thailand mission trip were, she felt more alive when in the midst of spiritual battle down among the bars and prostitutes than at any other time in her life. Despite the darkness and the danger and the depravity of it all, going and interceding for those trapped in the sex trade, made her come alive. She feels more strongly than ever that this is the purpose she'll be devoting her life to. Going to Bangla Road was not a sacrifice she had to force herself to make, it was a privilege.

And I'm like David Livingstone where Africa is concerned. So many people say things to me along the lines of "what a sacrifice you are making" when really, I feel that it is a gift that is being given me. My sacrifice is staying here until the time comes when we can move over to Swaziland.

And why is that? Because I truly believe that God created me with African babies and children and young adults and mothers and old grandmothers in mind. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that my passion for that nation was birthed in me by God. I am more "me" when I am there even though it isn't the nation I was born into, even though my earthly citizenship lies here.

When I think about living the rest of my life in Swaziland, I feel so very blessed. Yes, I'll miss my family and friends back in the States. Yes, it will be hard at times. But it is all worth it. All worth it.

So what is that thing in your life that for others would be a hard calling? A sacrifice? An "impossibility"? What is that thing in life that when you are doing it or when you dream about it nothing else compares? If you haven't found that life-passion yet, that thing that gets your blood pumping like nothing else, then find it. God has created each of us with unique giftings and skills and desires. He doesn't mean for you to settle for a life of just getting by.

And if you've found that passion, don't let anything keep you from fulfilling that God given destiny. Yes, maybe you are in a season of waiting just as we wait for Jim's retirement so we can move to Africa. But even in the waiting, you can be preparing and praying.

Don't let anything hold you from God's plan.

Repent from and move past those sins that you are clutching on to.

Let go of those bad relationships that are holding you back or if they are ones can't walk away from, do what it takes to heal them.

Get out of debt and be set free from materialism that has you in shackles.

Gain the skills or education you now lack.

Break free from addictions or unhealthy lifestyles that make you physically unable to move forward.

Don't sit back and waste the precious gift of life that God has given you. Don't waste the passions He has planted deep inside you. Don't get to the end of your time here on earth and have regrets as your constant companion.

Chase after God with all your heart. Follow that path He wants to lead you down. Maybe it is teaching children in a rural, impoverished, Mississippi Delta school or holding the hands of the elderly and dying in a Latin American hospital. He might have called you to be an adoptive mom of special needs kids or a dad right here in America who mentors ghetto boys. Maybe He is calling you to sew clothes for orphans in a 3rd world nation or lead Bible studies for young, teenaged moms.

Whatever the call, that thing that looks like a crazy, hard, impossible sacrifice to others is the very thing that will make you truly alive.

Will it be hard at times? Most definitely yes. But it is the kind of hard you don't want to live without.

Now go start living!