Usefulness

As I’ve been here in the village, I’ve been thinking a lot about where Dave and I will end up living someday. I was already okay with the idea of living in Detroit or living in East Africa. Wherever God sent us would be fine. Now I’m pretty sure that we’ll either be in the village here or in Detroit. Really I think it will be a combination of the two. God is giving me a vision of ways to bring the two together. I had struggled for a long time with what in the world I was doing with my life. I had done so many different things and it just didn’t seem to fit together at all. In fact, one day at MSU last year, I had myself so worked up over what in the world I was doing. I had worked with kids, with gardens, in rural areas, in urban areas, in the U.S., in Africa. If I just knew where I was going, I could focus on preparing myself for one thing. I went home and told Dave about it and he said that just that day he had been thinking about all the different things I had been doing and how exciting it would be to see how God would put it all together eventually. As I got here, my focus had been in two different places – one rural, one urban; one in America, one in Africa. Then I started to see that the problems in the village and the problems in Detroit are very similar and that we cold really partner together to share ideas, pray for each other, send mission teams to each other’s areas, etc. I’m beginning to see the pieces coming together.

Anyway, as I’ve been thinking about where we would go, I’m fine with anything because I know that wherever we go, God can use us. I can see ways that he can use us more based in Detroit and traveling to Kenya a month or so a year. I can also see ways that he could use us more based in Kenya. So I see that wherever we go we can be useful. As I was praying this morning, though, I realized that I should be okay with anything just because I am trusting God, without having to justify it based on whether it makes sense to me. Instead of seeking usefulness, I should be seeking God and as I do, he will use me. Dave’s also been thinking through similar things at home. He had been thinking about general surgery, mostly because he liked it but also because he knew it would be very useful working in Africa. Now, he’s really considering orthopedics, which he hadn’t really considered because we didn’t think it would be as useful given where we wanted to go. So, the past few weeks have been a time where we’ve put our pursuit of usefulness and doing something good aside and recommitted our lives to whatever God has for us, being completely open to whichever way he leads us. It feels really good to be trusting and waiting. I can also see how God is working in us both and teaching us both, as far away as we are from each other, and giving us one mind about all these things. Please pray for us as we continue this journey. Pray that I would continue to trust God for the future and not have to plan it all myself. And pray that God would open just the right spot for Dave for his internship and residency (right now he’s applied to both general surgery and orthopedics residencies). Thanks! Love you all,
Sarah