Sunday, February 17, 2013

Call Me, Maybe?

Happy Sunday morning!  It's rainy and misty here in Dominica this morning, but it's actually a little refreshing.  Living in this climate brings a lot of quick showers and then right back to sunshine.  So it's nice to have a day where the weather is perfect for snuggling up with a good book (I'm reading Life of Pi right now...).  When I stay inside when the sun is shining, sometimes I feel like I'm wasting beautiful weather.  But on days like today, the introvert inside of me takes a big sigh of relief when she gets to be a homebody for a minute!  Today I decided to listen to a sermon from our home church in Houston.  If you ever find yourself looking for a good inspiring sermon, head over to www.ubc.org.  Dr. Steve Laufer is awesome!  Jonathan and I left for the Caribbean not long after he came to our church as our new pastor.  But we love him dearly, and we miss hearing him preach.  He's a young guy, so he connects really well with our age group and demographic.  He's also very intelligent...such a great teacher!  But enough Schteve love...more blogging!

The sermon I listened to this morning was called "Call Me, Maybe?".  So of course I HAD to listen to it.  I was hoping I would get a UBC version of this famous song, but I wasn't so lucky.  Instead, I got words that spoke right to my heart.  It was about finding God's calling on your life.  And seeking out that calling with purpose.  Connecting to the "manifestation of the Holy Spirit" in you.  Understanding that your contribution, whatever that contribution might be, is a worthy one if it's for the glory of the Lord.  During this season in my life, I often find myself wondering what in the world I'm supposed to be doing.  Here in Dominica that has been especially true.  Because we will be here for an extended period of time, I have felt sort of obligated to pursue some employment endeavors...

So I contacted the prep school...no openings.  Then I signed up to be a Standardized Patient for the med students...and they messed up and screwed up the schedule such that I couldn't participate.  So then I interviewed at a restaurant (you may have read that post) and thought it went really well...left with the manager having every intention of contacting me in the next day or so to set my schedule....and then never heard anything from him again.  Long story short, the "doors of employment" for me have been very clearly and almost adamantly shut for me.  I've learned to recognize the shut door over the years.  My prayer for many years has been that God would be "in my face" if He's got something He wants me to do.  I can be a dummy sometimes and I don't recognize subtlety.  So He's granted me that and He has taught me to recognize the shut doors.  He's taught me that when I recognize those shut doors, I should get quiet and listen to see where and what it is that He's got in mind for me.

So this weekend I spent some time trying to do some listening.  Do I have an answer yet?  No. Here's what I DO hear though.  I hear Him telling me that I need to rest in His provisions.  After all, a part time job here in Dominica wouldn't net me that much money anyway.  It would mostly just be to "fill my time".  And He wants me to "fill my time" with something else.  What that something else is, I'm not sure yet.  Of course, I'm called to be a "virtuous wife" right now.  I'm called to take care of my husband emotionally, mentally, health-wise.  I'm called to keep the house, cook the food, manage the budget, and to do all those things with joy in my heart while I do them.  That is MUCH easier said than done some days!

My contribution to the Body of Christ right now is much different than what it was just a short 9 months ago.  I used to be the Martha.  Let me go here, do this, say this, bring this, make this.  Let me be busy.  Let me show my admiration for Christ by my deeds!  I am now most DEFINITELY the Mary.  I am called to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen.  I'm called to feel His warm embrace.  I'm called to be still and KNOW that He is God.  I'm not supposed to plan things out.  I'm not supposed to have some sort of "job description".  I'm serving Him (in addition to my once a week contribution to in.Light.in...a little ministry we do here for the local children) by being obedient.  We are, after all, denying ourselves and taking up our cross and following Him.  We left comfort, freedom, family, familiarity, money, etc. to come here to Dominica and fulfill His calling on BOTH our lives.  Jonathan is called to be a physician. And he is running the race like a champ man!  Me?  I am called to recenter my life around my Lord.  Make HIM the center!  I'm called to fall in love with Christ all over again.  And in the meantime, absorb some priceless insight into His nature and His ways.  I'm called to have a passionate and quiet relationship with Him in this season in my life when there's nothing more worthy of my time than that.  All busyness has been stripped, and I'm left only with my loving soulmate and the One who gave him to me.  And I have to recognize that "calling" not as complacency, but as a true calling...


So what is your "calling"?  If you're here in Dominica, what is God's purpose for you right now in this place?  Wherever you are, I'm challenging you to seek out His calling on you life with purpose.  Join me in the search!  And when you find it, share it!  We are all a part of the Body of Christ, and your contribution, be it small or monumental, is NECESSARY for the furthering of God's Kingdom!  




1 comment:

  1. A sermon with "Call Me Maybe" sounds awesome!! I love the tropical showers. They are definitely refreshing.

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