called out :)

There is a theme in my life right now of living out the call to pick up our crosses and follow Him. Everything I am reading and listening to is screaming it. I don’t know if it is because Francis Chan’s crazy love is a popular book right now, but even if it is, thank the Lord for people speaking truth, even when it hurts. Even reading John today, I noticed the radical call more than I usually do when reading. I just listened to a leadership teaching from nky about calling, and what did it talk about? How we are bought at a price, our life is not our own.

Okay, so what do I do about all of this? I am tired of living for me. I do not want to live a mediocre Christian life, where my life centers on me, and the leftovers go to God. More than that, my life is pouring out to high school girls, what am I teaching them if I live like that?

One of the things that was discussed in the leadership message about calling was our vocation. He said if 10 years down the road (or now for what it’s worth), if we are working and do not have a burning desire to share the gospel with the people around us, he would seriously question our relationship with God. I agree. I never want to work to work. I never want to be a nurse because I want to be a nurse. Crazy right? I want my sole focus to be to share the good news in whatever way I can, and if my job has to be a means to live on to secure that end, let it be. (Paul was a tent maker). The profession I chose is one that interacts with people on a daily basis, so I would hope it would be more than that. I want to be a missionary disguised as a nurse. Not a nurse that serves God in my spare time and on my days off. I was bought at a price. My life is not my own.

If there is really an eternity at the end of this life, there is NOTHING ELSE that should matter to us other than our hearts being aligned with God’s and to make sure the hearts of the people around us have a chance to know Him personally. So where am I left? My life should not look like any other person in our culture. It should not make sense to the culture we live in. if I stopped following Christ, and my life did not look much different, something would be terribly wrong. I am a missionary first. At TCHS, at UK CON, and wherever I end up working. The places I am are just a means to live out the call He has given us in Matthew 28. I cannot put school before Him. I cannot put work before him. I am HIS and I was bought at a price. His love for me is more than enough to compel me to move. It is all I need to move.

I have a hunch that in John 10:10 when Jesus talks about giving us life to the full, this is what He means. (The exciting thing about this is that everything else in his character is loving towards us and for our good, so you know His call for us to be living sacrifices is going to be for our good and is going to give us life to the full. How great is our God?) :)

On a lighter note, Holly and I ran errands today & were very productive :) We considered up and leaving for SC, but I will be headed to Baghdad, KY this weekend. Thats right, you heard me. I am ready for the swampy pool and excessive bugs, and of course over the mountain. My team may or may not be planning on being VERY organized. School supplies can get me excited about anything. Treat!

*picture from www.flickr.com (its at the arboretum!)