This is my 10,950 day of being alive which means I turn 30 tomorrow.
Wow...
You know when you are a kid 30 seems SO OLD?
I know I did. I also thought I'd be well into fulfilling the calling God has on my life. Like, right in the midst of this world changing ministry that touches thousands of people (hundreds of thousands?)
But, here I am just finishing up my Bachelor's degree, and starting my Master's degree in the fall. Already, my 30th year is starting out with a bang. It is exciting, and could be a little disappointing if I dwell on the fact that I am not a missionary in another country (Africa, or Central/South America), I do not have a platform of ministry that reaches a ton of people and changes lives (that I know of ). I am thinking about ministers like Kathryn Kuhlman, Mike Bickle, all these well known men and women of God.
I have realized over the past few years that the journey to fulfilling God's purpose for my life is just as, if not more important than the actual purpose. It is on the journey where we are refined, and made into people who are worshipers of God. The journey is where our faith is strengthened, and we learn to trust in Him more than any other thing. Granted, we are not perfect when we get to the point where we are fulfilling our purpose, but as I write this I have to wonder when does that happen anyway?
There is no point where we stop growing. There is no point where we stop having to go through trials because we have reached perfection. Our faith will always be challenged, and we will always grow.
The fact is, even now I am fulfilling God's will for my life. I am in the center of His will, taking one step at a time. Often we (I am guilty of this myself), think of God's purpose for our lives as an end goal. I know I get narrow minded, and begin to think that I will not really be making a difference until I get to that "magical" place where I am launched into ministry.
We do not get "launched into ministry". We are already there, right where we are. Everyday I encounter people and I have a chance to make that positive, or negative. Our ministry occurs on a daily basis. For me, my ministry is to my husband, my daughter, my extended family, my fellow students, my neighbors.
I am not talking about preaching at them, I am talking about the way I LIVE my life. Do my actions and words speak love and encouragement? Do they bless?
For me, my answer is a resounding, "No!" not all the time anyway.
I have days where I just want to chew everyone out. I have days when I do not feel like cleaning my house. I also have days where my patience with my daughter wears thin. Mostly, however I love to serve my family. I love to have my house spotless so that when Jake comes home he can relax. I love to make my daughter finger paints so that she can paint, though she eats more than she uses (LOL).
So my encouragement today is to stop waiting. Stop the thinking that you are just biding your time until God launches you into "real" ministry, because you are already there!
Wow...
You know when you are a kid 30 seems SO OLD?
I know I did. I also thought I'd be well into fulfilling the calling God has on my life. Like, right in the midst of this world changing ministry that touches thousands of people (hundreds of thousands?)
But, here I am just finishing up my Bachelor's degree, and starting my Master's degree in the fall. Already, my 30th year is starting out with a bang. It is exciting, and could be a little disappointing if I dwell on the fact that I am not a missionary in another country (Africa, or Central/South America), I do not have a platform of ministry that reaches a ton of people and changes lives (that I know of ). I am thinking about ministers like Kathryn Kuhlman, Mike Bickle, all these well known men and women of God.
I have realized over the past few years that the journey to fulfilling God's purpose for my life is just as, if not more important than the actual purpose. It is on the journey where we are refined, and made into people who are worshipers of God. The journey is where our faith is strengthened, and we learn to trust in Him more than any other thing. Granted, we are not perfect when we get to the point where we are fulfilling our purpose, but as I write this I have to wonder when does that happen anyway?
There is no point where we stop growing. There is no point where we stop having to go through trials because we have reached perfection. Our faith will always be challenged, and we will always grow.
The fact is, even now I am fulfilling God's will for my life. I am in the center of His will, taking one step at a time. Often we (I am guilty of this myself), think of God's purpose for our lives as an end goal. I know I get narrow minded, and begin to think that I will not really be making a difference until I get to that "magical" place where I am launched into ministry.
We do not get "launched into ministry". We are already there, right where we are. Everyday I encounter people and I have a chance to make that positive, or negative. Our ministry occurs on a daily basis. For me, my ministry is to my husband, my daughter, my extended family, my fellow students, my neighbors.
I am not talking about preaching at them, I am talking about the way I LIVE my life. Do my actions and words speak love and encouragement? Do they bless?
For me, my answer is a resounding, "No!" not all the time anyway.
I have days where I just want to chew everyone out. I have days when I do not feel like cleaning my house. I also have days where my patience with my daughter wears thin. Mostly, however I love to serve my family. I love to have my house spotless so that when Jake comes home he can relax. I love to make my daughter finger paints so that she can paint, though she eats more than she uses (LOL).
So my encouragement today is to stop waiting. Stop the thinking that you are just biding your time until God launches you into "real" ministry, because you are already there!
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