Parallels

Terry's devotion for today got me thinking.  Am I taking this trip truly for the love of others, or is it that I think I have a love for others.  I can honestly say that I don't know the people of Guatemala.  I've never been there.  But I know I felt a calling.  And I know that my life is on a course to make a difference in the lives of many people.  And so as I've been reading and praying and preparing for this trip (which I have yet to take), I have seen many parallels in this experience and that of another time in my life.

For people who know me well, they know that I have made a major shift in my life over the last few years due to a major health event that occurred for my daughter, who will turn 11 years old this month.  It was life changing for her, and for our family.  I just launched the publishing company this week that will publish our story, with the intent that it can help other families cope and find hope during challenging times.  During that time of our lives, I remember feeling an amazing "awareness" about all that was good around me.  I can't help but find some parallels with that experience and this trip.  For me, this trip is about discovering that same kind of spiritual awakening in which one encounters hardship and fear but also sees everything from a new perspective.  It's a spiritual journey for me.  For me, I think it is also about discovering some closure on that chapter of our lives.  And that's where the parallel begins.

I've been reading a book called Re-Entry...Making the Transition From Missions to Life at Home. I was surprised at some of the parallels I discovered.  "It is difficult to move successfully into the next passage of your life if you have not brought closure to the preceding passage."  I have often felt that while my daughter has recovered and my husband and family have carried on, that I've been significantly changed.  And that everything I knew before is different now.  And, although I am happy in the new direction of our lives, sometimes I feel like I'm still trying to find my place.  And that's exactly what this book described about returning missionaries.  So in some ways, I'm already a "returning missionary".  That time of my life was spent in full faith and the sharing of that faith!

And then there has been a part of me that has felt that this trip would help me to put my little menial life problems into perspective.  Quote from the book:  "Also remember that some may have gone to the mission field to escape a bad situation or an unresolved conflict.  Unfortunately, physical distance is not emotional distance, and the circumstances you left behind probably have not been far from your mind during your time away.  Rest assured that God will have those same situations waiting for you when you get home.  He is God who wants His children to face their failures, and to deal with them with His help.  He will not allow His children to hide from their weaknesses and failures, but will continue to bring us face to face with our weaknesses and failures until we deal with them.  In the process, we will learn much about Him and about ourselves."

"It is important to leave the mission field with a clean heart and a clear slate."  I remember during my daughter's illness, that I became very "transparent".  There was not posturing or pretending.  There was just pure humility.  And so, I think about this trip as an opportunity to cleanse the heart and mind and return with a new perspective.

I know that I will personally grow from this experience.  And it's my goal to share it openly and transparently! Because, as Richard Stearns says in "The Hole in our Gospel", our faith should be shared publicly!  I'm the type of person that cries at Hallmark commercials, so I know that I will fall in love with the Guatemalan people.  The real question becomes how we put to work the things we learn during these times of learning and growth. How will it change us?  And what will we do with the newly discovered "awareness"?

And what lives can we touch in some small way in the course of 7 days?

With Gratitude,
Sondra