Flying into the Unknown

We all come to a point in our life where change lingers in the air and decision stops us abruptly. As many of you know I served with a mission program right after high school and had since then fell in love with the radical duties of a missionary. I got used to talking to strangers, praying in coffee shops, and sharing my testimony everywhere I went. Although I loved the life of spontaneity, I eventually heard the beckoning call to come home.

By December 2018 I was once again back in Illinois working full time and feeling caught in the mundane routine of the everyday. I began to feel as though mission was a mere memory and no longer a part of my life. I felt useless and as if I was disappointing the Lord since I was not doing anything more than cleaning bathrooms and checking guests into their rooms at the hotel. Amid my mundane year of work and rest I brought the following question to prayer: “who am I and where do I belong?” That tiny question begged so many possible answers. The most practical solution I decided upon though was simple: I am loved by a mighty merciful King who has deliberately chosen me to fulfill a part in His grand plan of eternity. He granted me a unique set of skills that are creative, curious, kind, and joyful. Skills that I am able use to help build up His kingdom.
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As soon as this truth was re-revealed to me for the hundredth time, I decided yet again to challenge it and apply for a Missionary position in Bremerton, Washington. Here I am only two months later sitting in my new home with a great roomie/co-worker and have a sea (ha, I work at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish…get it ‘sea’) of parishioners who are doing everything they can to make us feel welcomed and loved. I trust the Lord is good. I know His teachings are sound. The time is now to “go and make disciples of all nations”. All those who have received the sending forth blessing at the end of mass are challenged to inhale the change being offered to them. If you desire to know your purpose in life and know where you belong, then seek the one who has given you a life that merits purpose and promises you a place to belong. No mission is to great for the Lord and no soul is to dirty while still on this earth to know and profess the love of Jesus.

I am a twenty-two-year-old woman who is in love with the church and its maker. No matter how many times I find myself in a time of desolation or trial or doubt, I can rest assured I, alike you, am being relentlessly pursued by the Lord of Lords. Take heart and know the Lords plans are for you and not against you. That you at your core are good and with the Lords mercy and grace: YOU CAN DO ANYTHING. Even become a missionary. Check out your local programs: attend a bible study, go to a youth group, join a choir, talk to someone who amazes you with their faith, and talk to Jesus.

Remember that sometimes making the decision is more difficult than making the change. Remember to decide before the opportunity slips through your fingers. Choose to trust. Choose freedom. Defy the decision and know “that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in His presence. Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.” Praise be to the King who has made our destiny secured.

Take Courage, Bethany. 

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