Faith and Courage in our Calling

Gib starts preaching from the pulpit about the topic he covered in the fall. Busyness. Our attempts at decluttering our lives. He went on to say that he would be revisiting that topic in 2015. The congregation hadn't quite grasped it. We all acknowledge we need to revise our priorities and declutter the unimportant stuff but then there is a breakdown in the acknowledgement and the implementation. The biggest challenge, Gib says, is not giving God our resources, it's giving him our time. I see it myself when I travel from Haiti to the States. In Haiti, I'm happy to give God my time. There are few friends, no where to physically go, nothing to spend money on, expensive internet, etc. Giving God my time is possible and realistic in Haiti. Ministry lends itself to that. Coming to the States - not as much. We are in the States two months and it is a sprint, not a marathon. We put coats on, hurry out the door, go from one event to the next, stop five places before getting back to the house. It's almost automatic how it happens. We go from minimum to maximum as soon as the plane touches down. Gib had a good point that coincided with this challenge. We need to figure out our calling before we can really prioritize our resources and time. His example was concrete for me. He said as parents God calls us to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). So as parents our calling is to raise them in the Lord. For us that plays out a lot in the day to day moments like speaking in kindness, memorizing scriptures, reading Bible stories, addressing godly character, etc. God does not call us to make sure they are good athletes or that they have what they want or that they are in as many extracurricular events as other kids or that I'm the room mom, etc. It is clear what God calls me to as Lilly and Ava's mom and I'm grateful for the other stuff being optional. It does, however, require courage to do it and faith always leads to courage. As we moved to Haiti, the greatest sacrifice for me was not the friends, family, food, etc.; it was the time. Going has been a sacrifice of time above all for me. And it took courage to go and takes courage to stay. Whether we admit it or not, it takes a lot of courage to be faithful in the ordinary activities of daily life. For me to homeschool and kill tarantulas and ride through Port Au Prince traffic all takes a courage that I was unfamiliar with and my response has been a monumental growth curve in faithfulness. Obedience is a courage issue. And we need encouragement in it. Encouragement is putting courage into. We are to put courage into one another with our words and actions. Gib ended with saying that your calling is not your preferred future (I choked on my coffee when he said that). Life in Haiti wasn't my preferred future but it certainly is what God has called me to and it is a gift of time to God, and an opportunity if any, to live courageously by being faithful to God in the ordinary activities of life. Are you giving God your time and are you courageous to give up what isn't necessary to live out the calling he has given you?