Set for Life

It's late here in Malawi, but I am awake. I am awake, and thinking about the goodness of God. I'm having one of those moments Dr. Seuss talked about when you can't sleep because your reality is better than your dreams. And I've been having airport anxiety nightmares (In last night's, I threw a Crayola marker at a stewardess and got fined $400), so that's definitely true for me at this point.

So what has God done this time? His goodness is boundless, but life is full of sweet moments where we can pinpoint it, and feel His provision more acutely.

Right now is one of those moments. I am wide awake in revelatory wonder of the fact that God sets us up in families.

This takes some explanation. We are all born into some form of a family, no matter our background. That is not the particular family that I mean. I don't mean the roots of the flower, I mean the petals; the families that God gives you as sweet gifts to bring a little extra honey to your life.

Over the years, I have known friends, teachers, co-workers, and even acquaintances who fall into this category. You may start out as strangers, but after you've had that initial moment of "You, too?? I thought I was the only one!!" there's no turning back. You've officially been grafted into a new type of family.

These families vary in size and depth. I have known the more shallow kinds my whole life. It wasn't until earlier this year that I started grasping the idea of a deep familial connection...with people who were strangers only a minute before.

It all started in Cuba over spring break. I was falling hard for this nation...the people are full of reservoirs of warmth so great that you have to physically remind yourself of your own grandma's face to clarify whether or not she is actually one of the women currently hugging you. They are unselfconciously loving. We are not always used to this. In America, I've often found that people can withhold compliments because they think it somehow takes away from their own traits. But in Cuba, telling someone they're beautiful does not take away from your own beauty...it simply means that a person is beautiful and you want to tell her - so you do! In my experience, Cubans do not deny themselves the simple pleasure of loving others, even in small ways.

I saw this most prominently in the women who worked in the kitchen of the church we partnered with. These ladies were always cheerful, welcoming, and utterly loving to everyone on our team. They would just come right up to you and rub your back, even before you realized it had been aching all day. They were need-meeters to the highest degree, and remembered your name from your very first encounter. These were indeed special women.

They stick out especially in my brain because I am a vegetarian. I was planning to quietly work around this small detail for the week that we were there, as I try to do most places. My vegetarianism is a personal choice, and I hate when it becomes a burden to others, so I tend to do all I can to keep it quiet. One afternoon, however, I walked through the church kitchen to notice a few of the men on our team speaking with the cooks...they were letting them know that I did not eat meat, because they knew I wouldn't tell them myself, and they wanted to look after me. I tried to shy away from the attention, but it was useless. These boys were set on taking care of me, and the cooks turned out to actualy be excited to cook something extra for me. So, every meal. we would stumble to the table, exhausted and ravenously hungry, and I would inevitably hear my name called out in a Cuban accent, and a steaming plate of vegetarian goodness delivered to my seat. They made me something special for every single meal.

Because that's what families do; they look out for one another. They take on each other's burdens, even the small ones, and consider it a joy to serve one another to the best of their ability.

God sets us up in families just like that.

He showed me this explicitly one night on that trip to Cuba. I was reading in the book of Mark, and came across this passage:

"'I tell you the truth,' Jesus replied, 'no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the Gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields - and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.'" Mark 10:29-30 (NIV)

God sets us up in families wherever we go for His name.

There was a time, not too long ago, that I was so worried about leaving home for such a long time. I had gone so far away for school, and knew I'd be studying and interning in Uganda for several months, but I looked out at the vast expanse of longings in my missionary heart, and wondered just how much I could take.

But that passage came to me the very night of my worry.

I have chosen to follow Jesus wherever He calls me, which seems like a big deal, but His promises and faithfulness trump my promises and faithfulness every time.

If I give up time with the family I've been rooted in, even for a short time, He will set me up in another one. A community of friends at school who daily pray for and encourage me. A group of amazing cooks at a small church in Cotorro, Cuba. A ragtag group of church planters in Northern Ireland. A bunch of service-minded high school leaders on a district board.

I've been given fresh families my entire life! It is never meant to replace my home, but these people are the tools God uses to fill the family-shaped hole in my heart when I'm away. I have received from the Lord's hand double, triple, and quadruple the family! Brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers - all across the world!

When we choose to be faithful to God's call, whatever it may be, He will set us up. Period. We can't question whether or not we will have time, money, or resources for it. We can't look at our limited human qualities and feel inadequate. We have an unlimited storehouse of goodness, directly from the hand of our Father!

Stepping out in faith - whether it is to help someone in need, leave your home, pursue a lifelong passion, or anything brewing in the depths of your heart this very moment - feels like a risk at first. We feel like Indiana Jones when he takes that first step over that chasm, but by the time he puts his foot down, it's landed safely on the first step of a bridge that takes him to the other side. He just couldn't see it until he stepped out.

Walking with God feels like that sometimes. But we can't forget that He's the best bridge-maker of all time! He counts it His deep pleasure to move us from one side of our lives to the other. We always end up a little higher up; a little closer to Him.

And we don't have to pretend that His provision is only for those who work in the ministry or feel God is calling them to something historical and monumental. Because here's the thing: even the smallest details of your life are monumental to God.

In the Old Testament, God frequently asks the founding patriarchs of the Jewish faith to set up a small altar of stones in a place where He has shown His faithfulness. Even for little things, He asks us to set up little altars of remembrance.

Just like He sets us up in families. They are living nuclei of God's grace, goodness, and saturated provision.

He is waiting to give you a new family, and I would like to highlight the one He gave me most recently: my Ethiopia team.

The bottom line is that I wasn't "supposed" to go on this trip. I had thought about it all year; my mind was obsessed with the idea of going to this enticing country, and I knew my favorite professor was setting it all up. But I told myself it was all too much. Too much money, too much travelling, and definitely too much time away from home. I knew that going to Ethiopia (and consequently Malawi) would make it impossible for me to go home to Wisconsin this summer. It would be a whirlwind adventure. I told myself I couldn't do it. And I know I couldn't.

But that was before Cuba. Before my revelation that God sets us up in families wherever we are.

Jesus was indeed working on my heart - molding me slowly into the type of clay that was flexible enough to yield to His call. And so, when the time came, like a man proposing to His bride, Jesus invited me to Ethiopia and Malawi. And, remembering His promises and faithfulness in places like Cuba, I said yes. And joy immediately flooded my soul.

So, through a series of a few other miraculous and sweet surprises, I was able to join a team of 17 other Southeastern students to travel to Africa for two weeks...about a month before we left. I didn't know most of the team, and felt a little strange entering into their weekly meetings, but I tried to gauge their culture and see if I might possibly fit in.

But, as I seem to keep repeating, God sets us up in families. And what a family He gave me in my Ethiopia team! Most of them started out as strangers. Now strangers are sisters. Now outsiders are brothers. Now the strange girl who crashed their missions-trip party is a central part of this body.

And that's what we have been, a body; each part selected by God to live out good works through the unique talent He's given every one of us. There were those who set straight to work translating children's Bible songs into Amharic. There were those of us who took incredible pictures to document our journey. There were those of us who stepped up to lead at crucial moments. There were those of us who preached for the first time, and those of us who led worship for the first time. No matter who we are, or what we brought to the table, we all moved with one heartbeat. It was a refreshing taste of the most genuine form of Christianity, and a process that God alone can start and finish.

So my parents came down to Lakeland for a few days during my finals week. They spent much-needed time with me, and helped me prepare for this long journey. Their presence was crucial. I always say that I wouldn't be able to go were it not for them coming down for those last few, dream-like days. And I know it's true.

God did the exact same thing with my Ethiopia team. They became my family - praying over me, encouraging me at every turn, offering to send special treats of love along with my Uganda team. And I couldn't have moved on to the next step of this journey without them. I am filled with absolute gratitude for these incredible people.

In a way, I feel like I'm crowd surfing. I am elevated by the hands of those around me, and move by their presence and efforts. But we know that it's not easy to be passed from group to group. I think that's part of what Jesus was talking about when He mentioned persecutions in the passage above (didn't think I'd overlook that, did you?). It is a form of persecution to the soul to be separated from those with whom you have shared so much. Even if it's only for a short while.

But the Spirit of the Lord is a comforter. And I think that there's something very symbolic about the fact that this passage is found in just about every Gospel (see Matthew 19:29 and Luke 18:29), just like the Great Commission is (found in Luke 16:15, Matthew 28:19, Mark 24:48, John 20:21, and Acts 1:8 - I had to memorize the references for a class, so I figured now was as impressive a time as any to slip them in).

This passage about leaving families, gaining families, and losing them again is integral to the commission of Jesus to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth. It is a 2-for-1 deal; you can't have one without the other.

And it's a pretty good deal. Stepping out in faith requires a moment of risk, but the return includes eternal life...which just so happens to include every family He brings you into that bears His name.

I am so grateful tonight. Grateful for the past, expectant in the present, and excited for the future. And every reason for that has to do with this one ubiquitous phrase:


God sets us up in families.



Now please enjoy some photos to celebrate the latest family God has set me in!!

A very attractive bunch! The whole team after we hiked a mountain outside of Addis. 

Me, Bri, Corina, and Ashley! I really connected with these girls, and am astounded and inspired by their fervor for children. 

The team in Hawassa with the missionaries we worked with there in front, and one of our INCREDIBLE hosts/translators, Robele (in the red pants). The other was Cap Mac. He's not pictured here, but just take my word that he's an anointed worship leader, and on his way to becoming an incredible pilot!

With some incredible kids at a mass feeding with (from right) Amber, Ashley, me, and Katie! This location was the most intimate for the feedings we did - it was all mamas and children, and these girls were incredible with them.

I happened to be the one who led worship for the first time. It meant so much to have my family standing with me, and the man on the guitar was a musical genius! He learned the song and played it to perfection in about 30 minutes. 

We were driving along and saw some really cool looking trees. So we got out to climb them. 

Me, Ariam, and Nikki with some of the schoolgirls - these ladies went all out to connect with every kid!

Cori! She is incredible. I love her laid-back manner and sense of humor. She gets me!

Bri - always funny, always sweet. I love her presence. She is going to make an amazing social worker someday!

Where it all began...room A121. This was taken at our last meeting before we left! I love all of these people so much.