You Are A Missionary!

"I feel like I am a missionary." I said in conversation about a year ago. I was newly married, living far from family and friends and had no real idea what the future was going to hold. My husband is in the military which leads to us living all over. It also comes with culture shocks, adjustments and praying about what God has for you in this season. Probably not all that different from what you face in life just packaged differently.

As I was feeling this sentiment once again this past week as we are starting to make arrangements for our third move. I feel like God gave me an "Oh duh" moment as I was rambling my list of concerns, overwhelm, frustration, fears, and every other emotion to Him while doing housework.

"Erika you ARE a missionary, all of my children are."

Maybe you are like me and the idea you have for missionaries are people who live overseas, translate the Bible into different languages, speak at your church to share what God is doing around the world or perhaps you think of stories that happened long ago. The 'famous' missionaries that you hear about in Sunday school or VBS. However, the definition of a missionary is a person sent on a religious mission. That would be all of us that call ourselves children of God.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. ~ Matthew 28: 16-20

Jesus didn't give this command just to the twelve or to those called into vocational ministry. He gave this command to all of us, no matter where we currently live. You don't need to travel overseas to be on mission. God calls all of us to further the kingdom wherever He has placed us. The office, the classroom, on a military base, the grocery store, the local park, college, hospital or your living room. That IS your mission field. Your co-workers, students, neighbors, children, those who do life next to you are all getting a first hand view of how you live. So what does the testimony of your life say?

Does it echo the truth of God's faithfulness not just in the good times, but the hard as well? Do the choices and decisions you make reflect where your priorities are? Are those priorities following God with all you've got? How do you treat people? Do you love them the same way your heavenly Father loves you? More people are watching us than we realize, you never know what situation might open up a conversation of faith. One of my favorite verses is out of Esther.

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” ~ Esther 4:14

I love this verse because it reminds me that I was created on purpose for a purpose. In the story of Esther there are so many circumstances that don't seem ideal and probably not what she would have chosen, but allowed her to have a royal position when her people needed her. The journey to becoming Queen and being Queen was not glamorous or easy. However, through it all Esther trusted the guidance of her uncle and her faith in God to follow God's way, even when she faced death. Because of her faithfulness to God's calling on her life, she was able to save the Jews and be a witness in the palace.

I am sure many of us can think of circumstances in our life that we wish were different or seasons we would have rather not walked through. Yet, I know for me when I look back on those seasons in my life I see God's provision and guidance every step of the way. It becomes part of my testimony, when people ask how I made it through or how I navigated it I can share how good God was. In conversations, I can encourage others with the truth of God that I know to be true because I have experienced it first hand.

But how do we bring this closer to home? As I look to being a mom to our sweet daughter who arrives in a few months, I think about how I desire to point her to Jesus. My husband and I often find ourselves in conversation lately about rhythms and family dynamics that we desire to build. Many of them we are working on now, so that they are already habit when the chaos of newborn life arrives.

We know that kids learn by example. We desire for her to see us praying together, to see us spending time in God's word individually and together. To see us be generous with what God has given us and to have our home be a place of hospitality. To see us being apart of the body of Christ through serving others and attending church. We know that more often than not this will look messy and always imperfect. But there is a beauty in that too, because if the Bible has taught me anything it is that living for Christ is messy.

My main mission field in this is my home and I am so grateful. Each and every day I get to chose whether I am going to serve my family out of obligation or love. I get to pray over them, serve them, love them and provide a cozy home for us to live in. Yes, I still struggle with the constant change in our lives and being far from our family. I do still feel like a missionary, but I have learned that, that is how I am suppose to feel, because wherever God has placed you is an opportunity for us to show His love to others.

Looking for more ways to model being a follower of Jesus to your kids? Check out our Mommy and Me Devotional. Your living room can become your mission field as you walk through Bible stories and activities learning truths from God's word. Grab your pens, crayons, mug of coffee and sippy cups and settle in to quiet time rhythms.

Mommy and Me Devotional

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