So Why Go?

So one of the first questions I always get when I tell people I am planning to serve as a missionary nurse-midwife is... why in the world would you travel halfway around the world to serve where the work will be hard and hours long? You are young and single. You could set-up a practice here in the US and settle down and be happy. It is a good question and a good point! So here is the not so short answer...

Maybe you have heard about cardboard testimonies – they are a simple exercise that a group does to recognize what the Lord has done in the group members. On one side you write what your life was like before Christ and on the other side what it is like after Christ. You then share them with the group and celebrate what the Lord has done. Several years ago my pastor challenged our church to write and share several of these cardboard testimonies during a service. I have been a Christian for most of my life so my testimony is fairly simple. So instead I chose to highlight the change between my faith in the early years and the later years. I wrote on my cardboard testimony, “I allowed God to be part of my plan for my life” and other side “Living the adventure of God’s plan for my life." It is only through letting the Lord take the lead (and control!) in my life that I have begun to understand the joys and contentment of walking closely with the Lord. Does this require leaving my comfort zone and letting some of some of my dreams go - yes! It also means however that when this life is over I won't have to look back and wonder what would have happened if I had given everything to serve the Lord. I am excited to see where and what God has planned for the future.

PS - Ah ha and now you know the answer to another frequent question - why the name "Living the Adventure" for this blog :)