Confirmation

This past weekend was our church's annual missions conference. It was busy and chaotic, but such a wonderful time. I'm so thankful that we made the decision to have the missionary stay with us. It was nice to have another woman around to connect with and she was a delight to host! 

As I listened to her talk about her ministry overseas, it was a wonderful reminder to me of God's call on my own life. In fact, she kept trying to recruit Dan and I to come over to their country to work with her and her husband. She said, "we would love to have you and your energy!" 😀

I had many little reminders this weekend of the need to stay attentive to the ministry God has given me and use the spiritual gifts He has also blessed me with. Throughout my life, I have seen the following gifts at work in my life and these have been confirmed by others.

Administration - I am happiest when I have something to organize. And this weekend as we orchestrated travel arrangements, putting together and organizing the different events and all the logistics involved in decorations, food and people, it brought me joy.

Teaching - yesterday morning I was in the nursery where I often find myself. At times, I wonder why I spent hours studying and working to get consecrated and ordained just to be working with the children either at the nursery level or in our children's church program. But, God reminds me of the importance of that ministry. One of the moms was telling of how her little 3-year-old went home the other night and told her, "I love going to church." The mom told me, "That's because of you and your work with the kids." Now, I won't take all the credit for that because we have many others who help out, but I do enjoy teaching them and creating an environment where they know they are loved. And while much of the time I'm with the children, I also have other opportunities to use my gift of teaching at the adult level.

Hospitality - I love having people over and creating an environment where they feel welcome. I've gotten away from that in recent years so having someone stay in our home and being able to create meals and a warm environment was fun for me and a reminder to use that gift. And just having someone to talk to each day was wonderful! I am an extrovert who needs connection and yet, am alone much of the time. That has been the hardest thing about living here and I find it quite depressing at times. I'm an extrovert living among introverts.. This past weekend was a breath of fresh air and rejuvenated my soul.

I am thankful that the Lord allows opportunities from time to time to remind me of what He called me to do. Those opportunities keep propelling me forward.

But I'm also thankful for a day of rest today because I certainly need it after this weekend! 😂