Missions Monday on Wednesday

Well, today is one of those days where my mind is constantly on the move. Thinking of any and all the worries/fears/joys that are to come in the next couple of months. So, i want to be honest about them and share the things that have been keeping me up at night lately.

As, you may or may not know, we are planning a great big MOVE to the U.K. this July/August.
Andy and I have felt this "Call" on our lives for awhile and we really believe that God has lead us to this point for this time. We feel called to be missionaries right now in this time in our lives. So, I want to move and do the job that God has for Andy and I in England. Yet, a part of my heart is constantly in battle with God's direction on my life.

I struggle with fears of something happening to my family both good and bad, and i have no way of being apart of it.
I struggle with knowing parts of my life are going to be more lonely, just due to the fact of not knowing anyone and having to make friendships.
But more than anything I struggle with my kids future, as a Mom, I want the best for them. I want the best schools, the best friends, i want them to always be able to get the best things. And I know that life is not meant to be that way. It is just hard, to know that things that make your child so happy, like their family, are going to be taken away. Even if its only for awhile.
I struggle with uprooting my children's lives and starting them over in a different country.
I struggle with the adjustments my kids will have to make, (really it is just Henry, Sydney is still so young).
I struggle with struggling, because I don't want to be that way. Many people are a lot worse off, and truly I am blessed.

Anyway, I found this blog, that spoke on "Missionary Kids" or MK's. And the life that they have. It was one mom talking about how her kids struggled with the move they made and what they realized and tried to help their kids understand.  It truly was a great read for me on this day. God spoke right to my heart, helping to calm me down and remember that his ways are higher than my silly ways!
Henry is still quite small, but I do think this blog helped me to feel better about all the changes that are going to take place in his life.

Here is the section that was so helpful for me:

After a few tearful conversations and heartfelt prayers, my husband experienced an aha! moment while reading the Gospel of Luke. After the Passover Festivities, 12-year-old Jesus decides to stay behind in Jerusalem without his parents’ knowledge or permission. Three days later, Mary and Joseph finally discover their son in the temple and promptly take him home. Have you ever wondered why Jesus accompanied them to Nazareth? Simple, because they were his parents and he belonged with his family.

Encouraged by our new-found insight we humbly approached our children. “We want you to know that we love you very much and we know its been tough year. A long time ago, God called mommy and daddy to be missionaries. We are thankful for his calling. But the missionary calling is our calling. Not yours. You have a different calling. God called you to be our children. And since he called you to be our children, wherever we are in this world, that is where you belong. Because God called you to be a part of our family.”

Whew.

I appreciate that our fellowship wants to affirm and support our children. Being an MK (a child of a missionary) has unique challenges. But we don’t affirm pastor’s kids by calling them pastors. And for a very good reason. Because they’re not. Such a calling would not be an affirmation but a burden. The mantle of missionary (with all its responsibilities) belongs to those called by God.

Yes, my children have a call from God. But it’s the same calling your kids have: to be a part of a loving and nurturing family. Families, not titles give our kids a sense of belonging. If and when our children feel called by God to be missionaries, then we will affirm their calling. But until that time, we will just let our kids be kids.