Back when I was in school…I didn’t read much for pleasure. I could list off 10 or 12 seemingly-wonderful books that I started years ago, and never finished. A large part of that was the computer, the fact that there’s no room in our house without a TV (unless it has a toilet), and that I was just quite busy in my life. Mostly…I’m a slow reader, and with all the school assignments, there were always things that I should be reading, but would likely never finish. I started reading for pleasure after graduation from college, discovered why people read for fun, but even without homework..my days were so busy with meetings, friends, church, bills, responsibilities that I never got much time to do it.
I know what you’re thinking…reading just wasn’t a priority. I could have read a lot more if I had put it as a priority….and I suppose that’s my point in this post. How many priorities war for your attention?
Missionaries and Pastors often have a complex…they will work themselves to the bone. We think “Hey, God needs me finish this task right away.” It’s one thing when “supervisor Joe” drops a financial report on your desk, you still head home at 5 o’clock, but another when you’re fulfilling a command of God, right? We seek to be or find the hand of God, and lose track of the face of God. How many overworked pastors overlook their families. In their zeal, how many missionaries get burned out and end up going home, step on the toes of other missionaries, or even worse, the toes of the locals in the pursuit of God’s work.
Since arriving, My team leader and I have been focused on the task of the remote training. It doesn’t help to be under the influence of a professional workaholic, always bringing work home to get in a little bit more effort.
- Learn the programs
- Anticipate problems
- Make a plan
- Write the manuals in English
- Translate the materials into French.
- Correct the French.
- Correct the French.
- Prepare the course.
- Prepare the computers.
- Get train tickets.
- Try again..
- and again..
- Get to to the training.
- Teach the Course. (in French)
- Solve the problems.
- Prepare the Computers for the second course.
- Teach the second course.
- Solve the problems.
- Head home..and prepare to teach the same course again in French and English in other regions.
That is what I’ve done…and God has blessed our efforts….but what fell by the wayside in our zeal?
Friends back home, friends here, a project our director wants us to focus on, eating well (I haven’t made it shopping in weeks), my Blog is 3 weeks out of date, my Inbox worse than that, one of my good friends is having suicidal thought again, and try as i might, I’ve not been able to comfort her. My room is a mess (ok, so that’s not new), I need to update my finances, haven’t been preparing for the Israel trip in Feb, I hadn’t spent much time in prayer, and my Bible reading was nearly a month behind, had barely talked to my family….and how many months has it been since my last newsletter?
This Wednesday, During a day of community prayer and fasting, I got half caught-up on my Bible reading…but I’ve still been pretty distant to everyone.
This morning, I slept in a bit, and got ready to head to a training meeting at 12:30. The problem is that the training meeting actually started at 9:30. So…missed that, and I was really looking forward to it. Things broke down a bit and i got quite mad at myself…thankfully, my Uncle Charlie called me at that point to bring me out of it.
So today, I’m trying to find a new balance of prayer, rest, and effectiveness. I remind myself that while stillness is needed sometimes, prayerful action is equally effective in maintaining my relationship with God. I’ve caught up on some of the long-lost emails. I’m updating my blog, and I’ve talked to a few early-risers back home. I have so many things to thank God for. He really has been holding me in his hands since my arrival…well, since before I was born.. 🙂
If you’ve contacted me here, and I haven’t gotten back to you, I’m truly sorry. I do appreciate any communication I get from you all, and as you make it possible for me to be here, I need to be better at communication.