Cheryl's Thoughts

It was a beautiful day today.  Too nice to be inside.  Someone said the temperature reached 81 degrees today. It was at least 69 at noon. 

Tonight we had the Weavers over: Kaleb (23), Elice (26) and their children Simon (18 mo) and Faith (4 mo). We had a great time fellowshipping together.  After dinner we walked to the complex playground where Simon had his first experience on a slide and swings. He loved the slide.

They told us how they met, courted, grew in Christ, and came to CBC. We talked about their work, their friendships, their home life, their family. One of the last things Kaleb said as they got in the car to leave was the encouragement we were to them as parents. As any parent, they wondered if they were disciplining and training their children well.  Faith of course didn’t do much except drink a bottle and smile, but Simon was a typical 18mo old boy – inquisitive, busy, but calm and obedient.  Mark & I commented over and over how good he had been here, especially since they stayed about 3-3.5 hours, even past Simon’s bedtime.  If all we do is encourage parents that they are on the right road of training and raising their children, we have helped them.

So that brings me to something that has been on my mind lately.  What is ministry?  Is it having families over for dinner and talking about everything under the sun? Is it giving positive affirmation about their children? Is it babysitting the pastor’s daughter? In the process, meeting a Nigerian mom of 2 toddlers freshly divorced from an abusive husband who now plans to come to CBC Sunday? Is it having a husband and father for lunch for Mark to discuss how he can start his own pressure washing business now that he has left the army? Is it hiring a friend who is out of work? Is it trusting God to provide visas to China and sharing with our friends that we trust in a sovereign God who provides all our needs at the right time? Is it having a conversations with a family that is trying to decide what to do for aging & ailing parents that don't qualify for assisted-living? Is it offering to have one of your daughter’s best friends and her boyfriend over for lunch on their spring break? What is ministry?  What does it look like? Is it always preaching, Bible studies, and ladies’ groups? Is it teaching young children to read with the hope that someday they will be able to read the Bible on their own? Or so they can learn well because they were created in God’s image?

Today I began reading The Missionary Call by M. David Sills, a book that Mark received for Christmas.  I delayed reading it because I don’t feel “the missionary call” in the same way Mark does and I didn’t want to “hear” it.  However, I am enjoying reading it. This book doesn’t take the stance that all Christian are called to be missionaries.  Steve Saint wrote the Foreword to the book and began with an anecdote of a typical conversation that he used to have.  People assumed that because his dad was a missionary (Nate Saint), then he was also a missionary. When Steve said no, he was a businessman, many people expressed disappointment. Steve’s point was that God had called him to serve Him in the business world, serve his family, and serve his local church. That’s where he felt led, gifted, and successful. Years later, he did serve as a foreign missionary. Steve says in the Foreword “There is no greater blessing in life than to know that we are right in the middle of the trail God has marked for our lives and to know that He is providing the strength and endurance to play our part in His plan for the World.” (p. 10)

The point is to be faithful in the sphere in which God has placed me now. At each stage of my life, I am to be faithful.  In talking with the young parents here at CBC, we must encourage them to be faithful as parents, as believers, to know that their family is their mission field. The two moms we have had over are stay-at-home moms.  They need encouragement to stay the course, to pour Christ’s love into their families, to know that those can be the best years of their family life.

Back to the book. At the beginning of the book, David Sills discusses two approaches to finding God’s will.  So many of us wrestle with what is God’s will for my life?  Mr. Sills uses two scenarios: 1) finding God’s will is like finding a dot on a football field.  There’s only one dot and we must do whatever it takes to find that one dot. 2) finding God’s will is like a series of open doors to find that a dot on the football field.  Each situation or circumstance that God places in our lives is a path that God uses to teach us to trust Him.  Therefore each open door that we go through is God’s will and leads us on the path that He wants us to follow.  God’s will then is a series of rooms with doors; we live in one room for a while until a door opens then we move to another room and do the same thing.  All of this is based on the combination of knowing God, knowing God’s word, praying, seeking counsel, living life, understanding circumstances, timing, and recognizing the desires of our heart.

One paragraph in the book encouraged me.  It addressed the topic of spiritual gifts. I have done “spiritual gift analysis” and come up with a primary gift of perception and a secondary gift of teaching.  Perception in the book I studied (Discover Your Child’s Spiritual Gifts) is akin to discernment.  Perception/discernment lends itself to praying for others. I love to pray for others, pray specifically and see God answer those specific prayers.  I have seen God answer specific prayers in so many ways. Personally, I’d rather pray about situations than talk about them or worry about them.  However, I don’t enjoy teaching Bible Studies, children’s church, etc.  I love teaching the Hellams Center children how to read. Here is the section I read in The Missionary Call that caught my attention. Mr. Sills says, “In addition to the gift itself, I believe that each believer has a passion area for the exercise of his gift.  A young man may have the gift of teaching and find great freedom and affirmation as he teaches young adults. Yet, when he has the opportunity to teach preschool children or senior adults, he finds this expression of his gifts taxing and tedious.” (p. 27) BINGO. I felt guilty because I don’t like teaching Bible studies or Sunday School. I felt like a heathen.  Yet, maybe God has called me elsewhere.  When I came back to the Hellams Center this year, Mrs. Robinson affirmed the work of teaching the children reading. She saw the difference it made in the students I had worked with.  Even some of the students who are now 5-6 years older come into the room where I work with younger kids and remember our time of reading together.  Jeremiah commented once how difficult it was for him to learn to read but told my ‘charge’ to keep at it, it is worth it. Wow. That’s encouraging to me. Besides I love watching the children ‘get it’ when their reading progresses. How I miss those kids!

So I will continue to read The Missionary Call. Besides, it’s a lot more interesting and useful than The Traveler’s History of China that begins way back in the early BC periods with the many dynasties.

Mark asked me the other day what I miss most about being here in TN.  I said our kids. Yes. But also the Hellams Center kids. They bring me much joy.  I see God working in their lives. They have changed so much since the beginning of the school year.