Responsibilities of a missionary’s mom
April 24, 2018
Communication, Following God's Call, Letting Go, Letting Go is a process!, Obedience to release, Parenting, power of prayer, pray for missionaries on their birthdays, Pray for missionarys, Prayer of release, Responsibilities of a missionary's mom, Sacrifice brings reward, Submission to God, Supporting our missionaries, Supporting our missionary children, The sufficiency of God's grace, Uncategorized be vague with details, give wholehearted support, keep confidences, pray and share, stay in contact, stay informed Leave a comment
Stay in contact with whatever means possible
Thanks to that beautiful satellite that circles the earth, we don’t have to feel so disconnected from our children when they leave to parts unknown. And thankfully communicating via the internet, doesn’t cost us anything! Back in the day, when people traveled across the ocean to answer a call from God, their parents didn’t know if they would ever see them again. In our day, we have been spared that burden. We have much to be grateful for, don’t we.
Pray and share with our children how we are praying
Praying constantly for our children across the seas, is a given. We don’t have to be told to do this, do we! I suggest finding bible verses that address their particular needs. This would be helpful and encouraging to them.
Stay informed as to our children’s prayer requests
We should also ask our children for their prayer requests. And when appropriate, recruit others to pray for those needs. The more people that are praying for our children, the better. But remember:
Keep confidences
Security levels vary depending on where our children are serving. Seek their permission before sharing their prayer requests. Become informed as to how it should be worded, if it is to be shared. It is not necessary or wise to give too much detail.
As a general rule, be vague about using personal and place names
Many of our children are on Facebook, so check out how they present information there. Follow their lead when you share anything online. Personally, I limit myself when giving out details concerning personal and place names. My children’s service area doesn’t require this, but I prefer to play it safe when I am writing my blogs. And with all that’s going on with Facebook these days, we should be careful about any information we place there.
Keep them informed of what’s going on back home (the good and the not so good)
Being so far away, our children loose touch with the daily goings on. Even though they may miss being with family and friends back home, they still want to stay connected. So, keep them informed of the major events and be sensitive about the details you choose to share. Some things are best not to share. Depend on God’s leading in this.
Make sure our children have no doubt of our support
Our children have made some radical changes in their lifestyles to follow God’s call upon their lives. They need to know that their families back home not only are praying for them but support them wholeheartedly. They have enough to deal with. We only add to their load if their family back home, for whatever reason, can’t release them to their calling. Let’s keep our focus on what is best for them. We have God’s grace to give us the strength we need to let them go.
Dreams, God covers the details!
May 18, 2017
Friendship, God's faithfulness, Making Memories, Sacrifice brings reward, Supporting our missionaries, Supporting our missionary children, Uncategorized, Visiting your missionaries breathtaking scenery, clear water streams, Edinburgh, fulfillment of a dream, Highlands, mission field, misty isles, new friends, pastor's wife, Scotland, Scottish brogue bagpipes Leave a comment
You Can’t Buy Happines but you can go to Scotland and that’s pretty much the same thing
For many years I had a dream of traveling to Scotland. Can’t really explain why I became intrigued with that extraordinary country. Maybe it had something to do with her breathtaking scenery
or those happy clear water streams of the Highlands. Perhaps it was the appeal of quaint and misty isles that allows one to step back in time to a slower paced life. Possibly it is the lure of the castles, and the images they inspire of knights and jousts, lords and ladies, or kings and queens dressed in medieval array.
I just know when listening to the captivating music of the kilted bagpipers something deep within my innermost being is stirred. I am at a lost to explain it. But bagpipe music and that lyrical Scottish brogue never fails to draw me in.
I did explore the possibility of Scottish roots using the DNA test. While it did not reveal a direct Scottish ancestor, my roots could be traced to the area of Ireland/United Kingdom. I felt I had a good reason to hope my roots could be traced to Scotland, albeit more likely Ireland. But I hold on to that small hope.
But come Friday, I will travel to Scotland for my third time since 2016. My son and his family have lived there for the past 9 months while my son has been working on his master’s degree in linguistics. We will all return together in early June as his term of study is almost up. He will finish his dissertation in the States and return to the mission field in August.
About 13 years ago, my dream led me to establish an e-pal relationship with a precious pastor’s wife, named Ruth, who like me had 4 children. We formed a sweet friendship. So when my son told me that he was considering studying at the University of Edinburgh, the dream of going to Scotland and seeing my friend face to face began to materialize.