Five and a half years ago when we were preparing to make our move from Tuscaloosa (Roll Tide!) to come to seminary, I didn't have any idea what would happen once we graduated. But I knew it would be a "grand adventure".
Would we be headed somewhere for a PhD program? Would I be assuming the role of "pastor's wife" (a role I wasn't sure I wanted)? Would we be moving out of the country as missionaries? It never crossed my mind that we would stay. "Jackson", I thought to myself, "is just a temporary place until we're given the real assignment."
How wrong I was. As we went through 18 months of job-hunting, missions-agency applying, and presbytery-intern-finishing - I kept looking for what's next. I kept thinking God was teaching me about patience. I was even so foolish (stubborn?) at one point as to think - "oh I can out-wait God....no matter how long he has us waiting...I will do it." Doors kept closing. I doubled-down in my stubbornness. All the while researching each new and exciting place we might go. Somewhat ignoring where God had already placed us.
After 10 months, we finally got that long-prayed-for job offer - in Jackson. Not closer to family. No exotic locations. And - sadly for the kids - not near Disney World.
On the one hand, I was happy to finally be able to say "yes, we're putting down roots somewhere." And some very kind friends threw us a not-going-away/housewarming party.
But staying can be hard. Sometimes it looks like others are going off "having the adventures" (especially come seminary graduation time). Digging into relationships instead of the expected Southern pleasantries is time-consuming and messy (though worth it). People leave that you are going to miss. People come that you have to make an effort to get to know (because you remember what it felt like to be the new person not so long ago).
A few years ago David Platt wrote a book called Radical - which quickly hit the Christian bestseller list. Michael Horton wrote a rebuttal entitled Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World. As far as I'm aware, it made no bestseller list. Being ordinary, staying, putting down roots - those aren't popular in our culture. They aren't glamorous. Sometimes they are downright messy. But often they are the work He calls us to in order to make us more like Himself.
As someone who straddles the line of a Millenial & a Gen-Xer - I was told as a child (as many of you were) by many different well-meaning people in our culture, that I was special. I could do anything. Be anything. While I'm sure these people wanted our generation to "reach our full potential" and "fulfill our dreams" - I think think they did us one great disservice. By telling us we were each different, special, etc., they didn't do a good job preparing us for the hard, common and sometimes monotonous work of adult life. But for some (most?) of us - God calls us to stay - at least sometimes in our lives.
I often start to get restless. Looking for what's next. But even if God called my family to move - this same cycle would repeat itself. Because, in the words of Steven Curtis Chapman, "we are not home yet". And so, while you are wherever God has planted you (even though it may not be what you envisioned), that is where God has called you to grow for the present-time. Dig In!
Would we be headed somewhere for a PhD program? Would I be assuming the role of "pastor's wife" (a role I wasn't sure I wanted)? Would we be moving out of the country as missionaries? It never crossed my mind that we would stay. "Jackson", I thought to myself, "is just a temporary place until we're given the real assignment."
How wrong I was. As we went through 18 months of job-hunting, missions-agency applying, and presbytery-intern-finishing - I kept looking for what's next. I kept thinking God was teaching me about patience. I was even so foolish (stubborn?) at one point as to think - "oh I can out-wait God....no matter how long he has us waiting...I will do it." Doors kept closing. I doubled-down in my stubbornness. All the while researching each new and exciting place we might go. Somewhat ignoring where God had already placed us.
After 10 months, we finally got that long-prayed-for job offer - in Jackson. Not closer to family. No exotic locations. And - sadly for the kids - not near Disney World.
On the one hand, I was happy to finally be able to say "yes, we're putting down roots somewhere." And some very kind friends threw us a not-going-away/housewarming party.
But staying can be hard. Sometimes it looks like others are going off "having the adventures" (especially come seminary graduation time). Digging into relationships instead of the expected Southern pleasantries is time-consuming and messy (though worth it). People leave that you are going to miss. People come that you have to make an effort to get to know (because you remember what it felt like to be the new person not so long ago).
A few years ago David Platt wrote a book called Radical - which quickly hit the Christian bestseller list. Michael Horton wrote a rebuttal entitled Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World. As far as I'm aware, it made no bestseller list. Being ordinary, staying, putting down roots - those aren't popular in our culture. They aren't glamorous. Sometimes they are downright messy. But often they are the work He calls us to in order to make us more like Himself.
As someone who straddles the line of a Millenial & a Gen-Xer - I was told as a child (as many of you were) by many different well-meaning people in our culture, that I was special. I could do anything. Be anything. While I'm sure these people wanted our generation to "reach our full potential" and "fulfill our dreams" - I think think they did us one great disservice. By telling us we were each different, special, etc., they didn't do a good job preparing us for the hard, common and sometimes monotonous work of adult life. But for some (most?) of us - God calls us to stay - at least sometimes in our lives.
I often start to get restless. Looking for what's next. But even if God called my family to move - this same cycle would repeat itself. Because, in the words of Steven Curtis Chapman, "we are not home yet". And so, while you are wherever God has planted you (even though it may not be what you envisioned), that is where God has called you to grow for the present-time. Dig In!
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