Back to the Future
Someone asked me recently what my goals in life are. I started to answer with my typical spiel of what I am passionate about and how I want to be a wife and mother, etc., etc. Then I stopped and thought about it for a minute.. and I realized that I really don't know what my goals are. I could tell you till I am blue in the face how much I want to be a mother, or how passionate I am about discipleship. I could tell you how I love nursing and I love missions. But honestly? I tried to picture myself somewhere remote on the mission field. I tried to see a glimpse of what my life might be like.. separated from technology, spending my days working and living among whichever people group I was trying to reach. Then I tried to picture my life here in the States. What would it look like down the road if I chose to stay here and reach the people around me by just living a normal life? When I really think about it they are not that different. Both options involve me living among the people I am trying to reach and doing life with them. The difference is the culture and the way we perceive it. It was then that I realized something.. I don't really care (to a degree) what my future looks like. That doesn't mean I'm going to become a bum and not attempt anything of significance. What it means is that no matter what happens in my future, as long as I get to spend every day for the rest of my life following my Lord and Savior, I will be content. I guess that's really what it's all about isn't it? The answer to the question, "Why am I here?" is that I am here because my heavenly Father desired someone to lavish His love on. He created humanity so he could love us and be loved by us. So no matter where my life leads, as long as I am loving The Lord and being loved by him I could be dressed in rags and have not a cent to my name.
Having said all of that, I believe that part of loving God and being loved by him involves doing everything we do to the best of our abilities. For me, that means learning to be the best nurse that I can be. It means being kind to others, loving my neighbor as I love myself. It means a lot of things. There are commands in the Bible that would take too much time to list, but the way I understand it is that I obey because I love him. It's not a chore. Obedience that is rooted in love brings freedom and joy. Does that mean my life becomes perfect? No. It means I am not alone and I am safe and secure no matter what happens around me. I also believe that as a Christian I should do everything I can to share what Jesus has given me with others. I am in possession of such a precious gift and I cannot imagine not sharing it. Nothing else matters. Sometimes I allow myself to get confused. Life is full of so many questions. Amongst Christian circles there are different denominations. There are different opinions on theology and how we should "do church." Different opinions are great but so often we get so caught up in our differences that we allow division to come in. We are the body of Christ and we need to be one unit if we are to function properly. When I get caught up in these things I have to bring myself back to the root of things. I bring myself back to Jesus. When I am worshipping him, and I have revelation in that moment of how good he is and how big he is, everything else makes sense. There may be a lot of theology or other things I don't understand, but what I do understand is that Papa God is so good! He desires the best for us, his children, and he is so capable of giving us his best. My life has not been perfect, but I am overwhelmed with the peace of knowing that I can soar above the storm in my Daddy's arms. Does it get any better than that? HE loves ME. I don't have the answers for many of life's questions, but I know that I am safe and secure, I am loved and valued. Because of that, life's many questions don't matter as much to me. Because of that, I am okay with not knowing what my future is going to look like. I am excited about the possibilities. Who knows? Haha. (He does).
-Jessie
Having said all of that, I believe that part of loving God and being loved by him involves doing everything we do to the best of our abilities. For me, that means learning to be the best nurse that I can be. It means being kind to others, loving my neighbor as I love myself. It means a lot of things. There are commands in the Bible that would take too much time to list, but the way I understand it is that I obey because I love him. It's not a chore. Obedience that is rooted in love brings freedom and joy. Does that mean my life becomes perfect? No. It means I am not alone and I am safe and secure no matter what happens around me. I also believe that as a Christian I should do everything I can to share what Jesus has given me with others. I am in possession of such a precious gift and I cannot imagine not sharing it. Nothing else matters. Sometimes I allow myself to get confused. Life is full of so many questions. Amongst Christian circles there are different denominations. There are different opinions on theology and how we should "do church." Different opinions are great but so often we get so caught up in our differences that we allow division to come in. We are the body of Christ and we need to be one unit if we are to function properly. When I get caught up in these things I have to bring myself back to the root of things. I bring myself back to Jesus. When I am worshipping him, and I have revelation in that moment of how good he is and how big he is, everything else makes sense. There may be a lot of theology or other things I don't understand, but what I do understand is that Papa God is so good! He desires the best for us, his children, and he is so capable of giving us his best. My life has not been perfect, but I am overwhelmed with the peace of knowing that I can soar above the storm in my Daddy's arms. Does it get any better than that? HE loves ME. I don't have the answers for many of life's questions, but I know that I am safe and secure, I am loved and valued. Because of that, life's many questions don't matter as much to me. Because of that, I am okay with not knowing what my future is going to look like. I am excited about the possibilities. Who knows? Haha. (He does).
-Jessie
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