Thankfulness--Day 12

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

1 Chronicles 16:8

*********************************************

Today I am thankful for the privilege of serving through missions. At the age of 12, I felt God speaking to me about mission work. I assumed that meant becoming a missionary and moving to Africa. As I grew and God placed Joel in my life, it was obvious that, while Joel loved the Lord and was called to ministry, he would not be moving to Africa anytime soon. I struggled with why God would direct me in these seemingly conflicting paths. Was He asking me to choose? During a period where Joel and I had decided to spend some time apart to seek God's Will, I took the opportunity to go to summer school in Mexico. I remember God working to reveal to me so clearly that we are all called to be missionaries...whether its on a foreign field, or here at home in our everyday lives. (And believe me, sometimes being a minister's wife is as much of a *foreign* mission field as the remote jungles of the Amazon.)

But God never removed that desire to go. And because of that I've had opportunities to participate in mission endeavors here in the States, as well as Mexico and Peru. And the thing I've learned is that no matter how much you give, you always receive more in return. And so I am grateful that God allows me the privilege of "making known among the nations what He has done". For this and so much more, I am very thankful.