He's here! Happy and healthy! Praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Every Kiss Begins with Kay
Yeah, go ahead and sing it to me...everyone else does when I tell them where I'm working these days. It's ok really because I did the same thing...and while the jingle may be a tad annoying...it was a good marketing choice...because we all know and sing it!
Since I moved to Knoxville to help my sister with all her kids while she was on bed rest, and she began to get better, and I still did not know if I would be heading back to Brazil or elsewhere come August 09 (when the country will let me back in for another 6 months), and I needed to choose a place to live for a limited amount of time, and I've ALWAYS wanted to do sales, but don't have any experience, and since getting sales experience means you usually don't make enough money to live, and my sister and bro-in-law offered to let me live in their basement a few more months free, and this is a really long run-on sentence for effect, and there are a few other reasons why it made good sense to stay here, I planted myself for a bit.
So now I'm making lifetime memories with my niece, nephews, sister, and bro-in-law, learning the ins and outs of selling (and love it!), saving for when I go back to Brazil (whether short or long trip), working towards eligibility for much needed health insurance so I can get two painful knees tended to, and doing what I can to support the ministry to Quilombolas in Brazil from here.
The mission field is always with us and I'm eager to see more of what the Lord has planned for my time here. Whether in the concrete jungle of Houston, the lush green, yet very poor interior of Brazil, or diamond filled windows of a store front in Knoxville, I am just a young woman learning about my God, and finding that He is who He's said He is. The road thus far has been everything but easy, but it's been really, really...really good. Please continue to pray as I seek. Let me know how I can lift you up as well please.
Since I moved to Knoxville to help my sister with all her kids while she was on bed rest, and she began to get better, and I still did not know if I would be heading back to Brazil or elsewhere come August 09 (when the country will let me back in for another 6 months), and I needed to choose a place to live for a limited amount of time, and I've ALWAYS wanted to do sales, but don't have any experience, and since getting sales experience means you usually don't make enough money to live, and my sister and bro-in-law offered to let me live in their basement a few more months free, and this is a really long run-on sentence for effect, and there are a few other reasons why it made good sense to stay here, I planted myself for a bit.
So now I'm making lifetime memories with my niece, nephews, sister, and bro-in-law, learning the ins and outs of selling (and love it!), saving for when I go back to Brazil (whether short or long trip), working towards eligibility for much needed health insurance so I can get two painful knees tended to, and doing what I can to support the ministry to Quilombolas in Brazil from here.
The mission field is always with us and I'm eager to see more of what the Lord has planned for my time here. Whether in the concrete jungle of Houston, the lush green, yet very poor interior of Brazil, or diamond filled windows of a store front in Knoxville, I am just a young woman learning about my God, and finding that He is who He's said He is. The road thus far has been everything but easy, but it's been really, really...really good. Please continue to pray as I seek. Let me know how I can lift you up as well please.
"The Call"
So...while in Brazil I had the opportunity to speak to many missionaries on the foreign field about their work and "call". Every single person or couple told me that the "call" to foreign missions was absolutely crystal clear and inescapable. Some saw my passion for the gospel and for the people of Brazil and told me that I had the definite markings of a missionary. Others were slower to share their opinion, saying that they were confident that the Lord would lead me in truth. While others assured me that if I was not sure, then the "call" had not come...yet at least.
Even as I type I just can't seem to decide if I'm called and resisting, or simply called to the States and...resisting. Hehe, what a predicament huh? I do NOT have assurance of this "call" to move to a foreign country forever. Neither do I have confidence that such a leading will never come. It is true that I am crazy about Brazil, it's people and language, and about the spiritual and physical needs there. The problem is that I have always had such a burden for the lost of the US and I can not shake it...not that I need to shake it.
I think the Lord is helping me identify yet another "religious" ideal that was planted deep inside me somewhere that needs to be uprooted. I think that I have always assumed that if I was willing to surrender my life more and more to the Lord's use that I would certainly end up as a full time evangelist in another land. When I see that thought spelled out I can see how untrue it is, and I know tons of sold out believers who do not have that "call", but I'm still wrestling to accept what may be the placement of my life and gifts in normal work environments here in my own country. Really the thought thrills me, but so does that of ministering in the cities and jungles of Brazil.
Everyone seems to have a different understanding of what many refer to as a "call" to vocational ministry, and I've decided that I can only get and trust the information from one source. So is He silent right now because He's already given me the wisdom to make smart decisions on these matters, or is He silent because He's testing my willingness to wait until the last minute when He's planned to reveal His best? The journey continues...and I'm glad to be on it.
Even as I type I just can't seem to decide if I'm called and resisting, or simply called to the States and...resisting. Hehe, what a predicament huh? I do NOT have assurance of this "call" to move to a foreign country forever. Neither do I have confidence that such a leading will never come. It is true that I am crazy about Brazil, it's people and language, and about the spiritual and physical needs there. The problem is that I have always had such a burden for the lost of the US and I can not shake it...not that I need to shake it.
I think the Lord is helping me identify yet another "religious" ideal that was planted deep inside me somewhere that needs to be uprooted. I think that I have always assumed that if I was willing to surrender my life more and more to the Lord's use that I would certainly end up as a full time evangelist in another land. When I see that thought spelled out I can see how untrue it is, and I know tons of sold out believers who do not have that "call", but I'm still wrestling to accept what may be the placement of my life and gifts in normal work environments here in my own country. Really the thought thrills me, but so does that of ministering in the cities and jungles of Brazil.
Everyone seems to have a different understanding of what many refer to as a "call" to vocational ministry, and I've decided that I can only get and trust the information from one source. So is He silent right now because He's already given me the wisdom to make smart decisions on these matters, or is He silent because He's testing my willingness to wait until the last minute when He's planned to reveal His best? The journey continues...and I'm glad to be on it.
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