The Time In Between

One of the things I struggled with being away
was being in relation with my siblings. It is
good to be in the same state with them all again!

The big question I have received since returning from YWAM is: "When is your next adventure?" They assume coming back to negative degree weather, Iowa, and my family is not an adventure. I say, "I do not know." Little do they know, every day is an adventure. "So, what are you doing with the time in between then?" Mundane tasks, they assume. "I nanny and help with the high school youth." Neither are mundane, though they may appear, simply waking up and speaking to my little brother is not mundane. They offer their sympathetic face, "Well, I will be praying for you then to receive clarity from God. Just make sure that you are really listening to Him." Are we so narrow minded we fail to see all the opportunities God lays before us daily to bring Him glory? I simply reply, "Thank you."

The mission field is a large field, approximately 57,529,222 square miles in fact. In case you are confused, that is the scientific approximation of the size of the world.

Being in the presence of the Lord is a wild adventure, you never know what He is going to say to us. Acting according to our Abba's plan for our life is...magical.

The time in between is pivotal. The Egyptians fled Egypt for the Promised Land, they had 40 years as their "time in between". Jesus was on His way to Galilee when He met the Samaritan woman at the well. Saul was on his way to Damascus when he met the Lord. It was the journey to their destination when they were heavily impacted by God.

Jump starting my mornings with a little coffee and a whole
lot of Jesus!

Next destination: Las Vegas, Nevada for the summer. I will be leaving for Vegas June 3 to join summer staff in leading Mission Adventures.

But let's not get to far ahead of ourselves. The time in between is overflowing with joy and laughter. I nanny for an almost two year old in the mornings. We enjoy walks to the library where I have managed to make mommy friends and he plays trains with other little kids. My mommy friends and I discuss things such as nap time, teething and the different puzzles at the library. Occasionally I let the other moms know I am just the nanny, other times the opportunity does not arise, and I just look like the ultra young mom. Cool.

The constantly reoccurring theme since coming home, however, has been relationships. This is slightly comical because I am single and living with my parents, often waking up with cats in my bed. The youth is currently discussing love, it's almost spring and the rings are flying out of boys pockets, my job is to be in relation with kids, I have listened to the heart of the middle school girl I nanny for as she talks about waiting for her future husband, and of the struggle from a high school girl as she feels unworthy to ever accept love from a guy. In reconnecting with friends I have found many of them in college to be in relationships, or struggling to find joy as they watch others find relationships. I do not always understand.

The joy of relationships with other Christians is the ability to
spend a Friday night worship God!

Yet the desire for love makes sense. Our creator Himself is a relationship, He is three-in-one. We are designed in the likeness of God, therefore we are designed for a three-in-one love: Trinity, us and our future spouse. Everyday we choose to embark in a life of relationships. We choose to be intimate with God, we choose to engage with our family and coworkers, we choose to speak with love to strangers whom we encounter everyday. As the Tenth Avenue North song says, "We're not meant to live this life alone." God created the world so that we might walk with Him in the cool of the day. Adam himself was living in Eden, the perfect garden, and was not even complete until God created Eve.

The time in between for me is an adventure of being transformed into the likeness of the servant lover, my Christ. Being relational is an adventure, though it is difficult. Reverting back to our original intent as humans, is to be in relationship with Him, bringing Him all the glory in everything, not ourselves. Setting aside our our desire to be the center, putting aside the idea that says to God we are deserving of more attention than He is, is difficult. But when we are first relational with Him, we realize how much we need His presence to never leave us, not only because it gives us strength and courage, but because of how beautiful it is to be with Him. When we experience even the slightest glimpse of God, much like Moses, others will see Him brilliantly shining in our faces. We are here to manifest the glory of God to an unbelieving world, and the best way to do so, is through relationships.