Living Conditions

Dear Friends,
Greetings!

Today I am going to blog about a question that I put on Facebook. It is something that I've been nibbling around the corners of and finally figured out what it is I want to know more about. Or know more deeply.

How does "bloom where you are planted" fit with Jesus' "foxes have nowhere to lie their heads and neither does the Son of Man?"

Okay, here goes:

I am beginning to think/discern/contemplate that the differences between these two life-styles may have to do with kind of life to which one is called. I say this because I know that some people are called to live in the same home in the same neighborhood in the same town, state and country their entire lives. And others of us seem to be called to perpetual movement.

Maybe this is connected with the spiritual gifts with which the Holy Spirit endows different people. I read recently in an article in Sojourner's Magazine about someone who had been given the gift of stability. I am stable in how I deal with life, not flustered by every little thing that gets thrown at me (at least not for too long) but I wouldn't say I've been given the gift of stability. That doesn't mean I don't occasionally LONG for it.

Maybe it has to do with the particular work that God calls each of us to, or how we are called to raise our children. I say this because over the course of time I have come to realize that there are different kinds of Family Planning. One of the kinds is: What is our plan for this family? How do we want this family to contribute to the world? What are our goals for our children and for our lives together while they live with us? And then, for instance, there are certain vocations which travel more easily than others. Being a stock broker on Wall Street might mean being a stock broker on Wall Street. Being a teacher, or a minister (of which I am both) or a doctor or nurse or computer technician might imply the ability to travel with that skill set to other places.

Maybe it has to do with each unique person's unique journey with God. For me I think that blooming where I am planted did not allow enough water to reach my roots. Maybe it was a little too easy. Maybe it did not develop TRUST hardy enough in me. Maybe TRUST was the spiritual fruit of the spirit that I needed to have developed most in me, and this is the way to do it.

Maybe for someone who is called to bloom where they are planted learning how to be consistent is the lesson in their lives to which God is calling them. I don't know, it just kind of makes some sense to me. Whatever it is that we need, we get.

In the Gospels Jesus says he can't stay one place too long because he came for many. In a sense he kind of had a home base with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. But he didn't have a HOME. His home was with God, his Abba. On the other hand, in Exodus the Israelis were kept on the move for 40 years before they were allowed to enter the Promised Land and bloom where they were planted. Do you think God lost the map that showed the entrance to the Promised Land? I don't. I think God was forming God's people into God's people so that they would be prepared to settle down and take root.

There are different kinds of "missionaries". All Christians are called to be missionaries, whether in the local neighborhood or across oceans. To be a Christian missionary means to speak of and show in action the love of God in Jesus Christ. I think that when we are open to being used by God for God's purposes in the world that this will happen. In opening ourselves up in this way to God we also open up God's ability to deepen us and grow us in the best ways for who we are and what we can give to the world. What God can give to the world through us. Those ways may surprise us, they certainly have surprised me!

So whether we are supposed to bloom where we are planted or be like foxes without beds and pillows, we are still on a journey of discovery that is put in place by the God who loves us. When I was in Bible College a few years back (as a non-traditional student) I used to be amazed by the people who were downsizing their wardrobes and belongings. These were the folks who were being called into overseas mission work.

Here I am a BA in Biblical Studies and an ordained minister several years later trying to decide what part of my life I can fit into eight boxes as I head overseas again in a few short weeks. I find God's sense of humor, well....humorous. haha. I guess the joke is on me. I am not a pot, I am a fox.

God knows me so much better than I know myself!
Blessings,
Debbie