At Least It's Never Dull

Last Saturday evening was our annual ECM Fundraising Banquet here in IN.  By the time next year's banquet rolls around, our dear colleague Mark Luckey will have taken over the directorship position, so our board, staff & friends surprised & honored us with gifts and kind words.  It always feels good to be appreciated, of course.  But sometimes I feel a little embarrassed by the attention and the implication that we have given up so much to serve God.  I hear so often, "They could have had a nice life."  I understand that what they mean is, we could have had a more comfortable life.  We could have made more money and accumulated more things.  We could have driven a nicer car.  But every time I hear these things, I want to interrupt & shout, "We had a GREAT life!"

Yes, our missionary life has been challenging.  At times I have felt very discouraged.  More than once, I've quit (in my own mind--only to re-enlist again before I got the resignation written).  But it has certainly never been dull.  It's not just that it's exciting.  It's more like it's been rewarding.  Friday night, in my response, I said "I can't think of anything I would rather have done with 30 years of my life," and I meant it. 

Today I worked on writing Bible lessons for Congo in the Kituba language we learned when we lived there.  This afternoon, I completed the lesson on the call of Abraham.  God called him to do a very hard thing--to leave his country, his family and his home to go to a land that God promised to show him.  In one sense he gave up everything.

But I was also struck by what he gained.  God did show him a land, and gave it to his descendants.  God promised him a big family and great honor.  God promised to bless those who bless him and to curse those who curse him.  God promised to use him as a channel of blessing to others--in fact, to bless all the families of the earth through him.  I believe that includes at least the fact that his descendants gave us the Bible that we treasure, and also gave us our Savior.  God used a Jewish maiden to bring His eternal Son into the world.  That's why the very first verse of the New Testament shows that He was a descendant of King David and a descendant of Abraham.  I was looking only at the first time God promised Abram great things (Genesis 12:1-3).  Yet even there, I saw that he got far more than he gave up. 

That's how missionary life is.  In fact, I think that's how life is for any follower of Jesus.  We give it all up, it's true.  But then we get more in return than we had ever dreamed possible.

I've had the joy of hearing my own children say, "Thanks, Mom, for introducing us to Jesus."  I've also had, just this week, the joy of getting a Facebook message from a former Sunday school boy in Congo who as an adult told me, "Mama, I remember so well the things you taught us.  I will never forget them."  Yes, I have had a wonderful life indeed.