Why would you want to?

As Todd and I have begun to share our calling into the mission field with others one question we have gotten over and over again is "why would you want to?"

That 'why would you want to' question is often followed by something like…

Why would you want to… risk your lives?
Why would you want to… leave the security of your job?
Why would you want to…. Leave America the country everyone else would love to live in?
Why would you want to… do that to your children?

Why would you want to... live on less?

And while I completely understand the emotions behind each of these questions- the truth is, I had to get to a point where I put my relationship with the Lord before all else... I believe God's word requires purposeful decisions- decisions that will shape our lives and how we live them.

So, why would we want to risk our lives?

The reality is, in my humanness I often attempt to cling to the things of this world and taking risks does scare me. However, what I truly desire is to live this life He has blessed us with- for Him. Sometimes I think we believe that we can somehow control what happens to us in life- and to a point we can. I can choose to move to Guatemala or choose to stay here- that is true. But what I cannot control is whether or not I am offered a tomorrow. I cannot tell you that if I move to Guatemala I get tomorrow and I cannot tell you if I stay in the United States I get tomorrow either. There are just no guarantees in this life- so I get to either choose to live for God with a purpose or choose to try to control my life- out of fear. What I have come to realize though is lack of trust in God always prevents us from receiving His best.

So why would we want to leave the security of a good job?

Our going into the mission field has nothing to do with our not desiring security. Trust me. It is not easy and it is tempting to stay put and continue on taking care of our own needs in a fashion that is comfortable. I won’t deny it- I like to be comfortable. We have a budget (thank you Dave Ramsey) and we take care of all of our needs and some of our wants. I like knowing that check will come monthly and that we will be able to pay for our needs. I like having that control. So, to walk away from that security isn’t easy. At all. And yet, what we do know is that our only true security in this world is Christ. I have no guarantees that tomorrow Todd’s job will be there. People get laid off, people get injured at work, or what if Todd didn’t make it home from work one day at all? These are some people’s realities- they have no control over those situations and neither do we. They are false securities and we recognize that now.

So why would we want to leave America- a country that everyone else is dying to live in?

Our going to Guatemala has nothing to do with us not loving America. Trust me, we know how truly blessed we are to live in such a great country. One cannot travel outside of America and return without noticing how truly blessed they are. Blessed by things that way too often (almost always) we take for granted. Clean water, paved roads, immunizations readily available (even for those who cannot afford them) excellent educations, opportunity and churches on every corner. And the truth is, I don’t want to leave all of that behind. But, my comfort is not more important than someone else’s chance to know about the Lord. I cannot imagine living life under difficult circumstances like polluted dirty water and sickness without the hope of Jesus-because while He is my only true security in this world- He is theirs also. No clean water, immunizations or paved roads can replace the gift of knowing Jesus. I simply cannot go on living and taking for granted all that I have without giving thought to those living without. And while yes there is a need for those in America to know Jesus as well- God has asked our family to go. Who am I to question an all knowing God when He told us to Go?

So,why would you want to do that to your children?

One day awhile back I was talking to my older children and I asked them what was the one thing I had taught them in life- and unanimously they said “that it isn’t about us." Now don’t get me wrong- raising your children to know 'it’s not all about them' does not mean that you don’t make them feel loved, special or cherished. My children know I would die for them in a heartbeat and that we are crazy about each and every one of them... yet we are more crazy and in love with our God. And because we love our children from the depths of ours soul, I DO want the very best for them in life- I want them to know Him. But not just know of Him- know Him in such a way that they desire to live their lives knowing it is 'all about Him'. And the only way our children are ever going to learn this is by our example. If we are not willing to put Him before all else- how will they learn to? We must teach our children how to think of others, how to see others needs and to have the desire to meet those needs before their own. We want our children to love serving others. We want our children to learn to love others- regardless of what's in it for them. We want our children to desire Him over popularity and over having stuff. We are teaching them that happiness is found in giving and not getting. We do desire for our children to have the best- and He is the best.

So, why would you want to go knowing you are going to have to live on less?

About 8 years ago God began working in our lives and opening our eyes to a lot of things that were at the time not easy to face. One huge eye opener for me was to realize how often I put my desire to have ‘things’ before anything else. I truly believed that if I had it all- I would be happy. I honestly believed that a big house would bring me happiness. (And can I just tell you that more square footage does not bring true happiness) I put the desire for things before my marriage, my children and before my God. I was living for ME. About ME. And to please ME. It was like this fight was going on inside of me to prove I was good enough. And I guess I figured that all the things that I owned would somehow prove that. So you know what? God let me have those things- as well as the bills that went along with them. :) Cause yah, he’s good like that. And what I realized was those things didn’t make me any happier and that those bills were sucking the life out of me- and my marriage. Yet the funniest thing happened in my pursuit of happiness... I stumbled upon joy- in Him. Joy is so much different than happiness. Happiness has everything to do with our circumstances- but Joy is from the Lord- and it cannot be taken from you... regardless of our circumstances. Joy comes from simply knowing the Lord and living your life full of purpose for Him. So we let go of the 'stuff'' and the stress that went with acquiring it and moved towards simply living out our faith.

The bible tells us our purpose in life is to have a relationship with Him and to tell others about Him- so that they too may know Him. Therefore, all of us are to be missionaries- some as senders and some as goers. Some right here where we are- and some in foreign countries. We get to decide whether or not we will answer His call. Even as I sit here writing this, I don’t have all of the answers and I don’t know how everything is going to fall into place. But what I do know is because of who He is and what He has already done for us- I can trust Him completely.