Responding to Him and Staying Home

I’ve always felt that I should be going. The one having the adventure, the one to tell the nations about Jesus. I’ve had the opportunity. It was hard, draining, exciting, uplifting, challenging, worth it. I wanted to live abroad with my husband a couple years ago. Part of me still does. Part of me thinks that’s just CRAZY now that we have a baby. Part of me just doesn’t know. 

All of me knows that God’s plan for me has been far greater than anything I could have ever planned for myself. I also know that loving the world from home is an option, and it’s not second best. God has given me the task of responding to Him by loving the world from my home, here in America. There are two ways I see this playing out in my life and I want to encourage you in case you find yourself saying good-bye often to all the people who seem to be going while you seem to be staying "home." 

1. I can pray. I can pray every day. In fact, since the missionaries in Bologna began a prayer chain this past semester, I have had a reminder in my phone every day to prompt me to pray for them. I pray for Italian friends, the ones raising support to go, my own heart, and the country. This is a simple thing to do and yet can not be underestimated. 

Jordan and I pray each night for places like India, East Asia, Greece, Mexico, Kenya, and others. We can keep the world before us and look for opportunities to play a role while being faithful to our neighborhoods and sphere of influence here in America. 

2. I keep in touch. Would it not speak volumes to you if a friend kept in touch with you even though they lived thousands of miles away? It certainly spoke to my heart when I received a gift from an Italian friend for my daughter, and I want to do the same for them. It means a lot to receive letters from our Compassion kids, so we make an effort to write back to them as well. The years that we've been able to afford it, we've sent Christmas care packages to missionaries overseas. Even just a simple email to let someone know you have not forgotten about them can make all the difference. 

Another Cru staff woman with Giada, our Bolognese friend

“Responding to Him and Staying Home” is part of a blog relaunch series entitled 
"31 Days of Responding to Him" 

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