Day 21, Five Minute Friday Prompt: PARK
The walking bridge in the main intersection near our house has been torn down. Major construction to replace it has begun as well as efforts to improve the traffic flow that jams it up on the regular. A temporary wall has been built which blocks off most of the intersection and re-routes every traveler.
In short, it’s a HUGE inconvenience. My husband has had to leave much earlier and has come home late every day. I am not able to get a taxi to come get me or find space on a bus to take me down to the main chowk where I’d just end up sitting anyway.
I’ve been parked at home all week. I have felt stuck and stir-crazy. I usually only get out once or twice a week anyway, but being forced to stay home makes me want to rebel.
I’ve gotten to know my neighbors a little better since we are all home-bound. Today, I sat with a sweet older lady as I waited (and waited and waited) for my daughter to come home from school. She told me that she briefly lived in Ohio as well as Israel and Beirut (where she survived a bombing). She has come back home to see her grand babies grow up.
I remember that in high-school, I used to ask God every day to give me a mission field. I didn’t realize at the time what a brave and scary thing this was to do.
Now that I am on the mission field, I am not as faithful with this prayer but realize I need to be. Because the tree and little patch of grass where my kids play ring-around-the-rosie is a mission field. And the little concrete slab next to a little bench where the same four ladies sit every night is a mission field.
I live the Golden Rule by seeing the humans among the harvest and by noticing the need right outside my front door. My ministry may not always be formal. Sometimes it’s not fancy at all: just two people sitting on a bench chatting the loneliness away.
Sometimes God asks me to wait. Sometimes He parks me in the lane that’s not moving. Sometimes He asks me to follow him inch by painful inch performing small acts of service to Him. I have to trust that God will use me where I am in all the little ways I’m able.
Soon, I’ll be in America, away from this mission field for a short time. I better start praying now for that daily gift of ministry. I’m guessing most days my mission field will consist of two tiny people and the ministry opportunities they bring to me as it most often does now.
Is God asking you to serve Him in a waiting period?
Are your eyes open to the mission field on your door step?
Talk to me in the comment section!
Thank you for this beautiful reminder! We ‘do’ mission work any time we’re awake–whether it’s witnessing to our family by the way we treat them or to our neighbors by our brief interactions.
Absolutely! Word gets around here that we are one of two believing families, so we must be especially mindful of even those brief interactions. Thank you for your encouraging words, Anita.
I know I’m trying! I’m waiting for a job and trying to wait faithfully, learning and praying and preparing in the waiting period while seeing what I can do now. I can’t and shouldn’t wait until I have a job to serve God or live well. Thanks for the reminder!
Absolutely! So glad God could use this little post to remind you of His truths. Thanks for your comment, Alina.
What a nice reminder that since we are truly the hands and feet of Jesus, we are continually in a mission field! No matter how small, God can and does use it all for his glory. We just have to show up!
Peace.
Patricia (FMF#31)
Yes! Show up every day! Thanks for stopping by, Patricia.
Really resonate with this – the beauty in being ‘parked’ for a while and the noticing of people that might be overlooked in a more grand scheme… You are doing a good thing and the people who surround you are being loved – that is the best thing of all!
Thank you, Emma. I think we moms in the thick of it feel this way a lot!
THIS: “Sometimes God asks me to wait. Sometimes He parks me in the lane that’s not moving. Sometimes He asks me to follow him inch by painful inch performing small acts of service to Him. I have to trust that God will use me where I am in all the little ways I’m able.”
I’ve been told that part is so relatable! The waiting seasons are SO hard, but He is worthy, friend! Thanks for stopping by!
I hadn’t read this when I wrote my mommy thoughts down yesterday but it is so good! I love the ministry we carry in our hearts and can share with whoever crosses our paths. I am not perfect and some days that ministry is simply sharing that imperfection with another. I am like Paul and want to be relate-able while keeping the faith in Christ. I read the above comment. That is eye opening that you are one of two believing families! I am hungry to learn more about all this so I will be poking around here more LOL.
I love that: “the ministry we carry in our hearts.” Thanks for poking around and sharing your thoughts. Looking forward to hearing more from you here and over on your page as well.
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