I started college with every intention of becoming a social worker. It took ten minutes into the first semester for me to realize I did NOT in fact want to be a social worker. Two big factors stood in the way. 1 - I'm a fix-it type person. You come to me with a problem and I want to fix it for you...or tell you what to do to fix it. I have to make myself just sit and listen without giving options...I think this may make me like a man, but whatever. 2 - I quickly realized I would have trouble leaving work at work.
Looking back, I can see that the desire inside my heart that made me want to be a social worker was in fact placed there by God...but it wasn't to be a social worker...it was to be a Pastor's wife...which sometimes looks and feels kinda like working for human services.
I am constantly battling #1...seeking God's discernment on when to just listen and when to act. On my own, I tend to go over-board in either direction.
#2 - In ministry, there's no such thing as leaving work at work. The people God has placed into our lives are literally a part of our lives. The blessing in it, for Ben and I, is that we are in it together. Do we sometimes have to shut it out? Absolutely...for a time.
This week God literally dropped a desperate young mommy of three into my life. She called looking for a church...looking for Jesus. I hung up the phone so excited that she had called us...and at the same time wishing she'd called someone else. Excited because I know a Savior that will change her life, and yet wishing she'd called someone else better experienced to help her in her particular situation.
I'm asking for your prayers today...that she would meet Jesus in a life-changing way, that God would pour out His wisdom on Ben and I and our little church regarding how He desires us to minister to her and so many others.
It's overwhelming...in a really fantastic sorta way. We need so much of Him...because without Him, I'm fully aware of how badly we will screw it up ;)
Thanks for listening and praying bloggy friends!