missing the Motherland

One of my best friends is getting ready to go back to Haiti because she knows this is where the Lord is sending her and is fully prepared to surrender to His will and spend her entire fall in Haiti serving the people there with the love of Jesus Christ. Her story of how this all played out is beautiful - you can read it here.

Between reading her story and watching a Russian film tonight, I'm reminded of the place to which I feel God has called me: Russia. For those of you who are reading my blog for the first time or just didn't know this about me, I have my undergraduate degree in Russian Area Studies (language included) and I spent all of the fall semester of 2010 in Yaroslavl, Russia. (The story of how I became to be a Russian major is very much a God-story, but I'll save that for another blog post.) While I was there, I felt God calling me to serve the people of Russia and furthermore, a more specific calling to working with children, and even more specifically, orphans.

Touching the Volga River in Yaroslavl, Russia

So far, I have no idea what that will look like. Unlike Haiti, Russia is unfortunately not a country where one can just fly in, setup camp and start doing the Lord's word - there are hurdles to be jumped over, red tape to cross, and plenty of technical/political stops along the way. The good news is that God already has that figured out - it's just a matter of time.

While God placed this country and calling on my life, for now He has opened the doors for me to go to seminary at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary so that's what I'll be doing for the next 3 years - all the while looking for every opportunity to work with orphans, Russians, and everything related. I know God is preparing me for something and the excitement that stems from knowing He has a plan to use me in Russia is what keeps me going - that, and His infinite mercy.

One of my good friends asked me tonight what I missed the most about Russia. My reply was this:

I miss how REAL life is in Russia. I (we) take for granted how easy life is here in the U.S. We do this so much that it starts to feel fake - well, at least when you have had the opportunity to find out what REAL life feels like.

Honestly, I've felt like this since I've been back in the states. I love my friends and family that I have here in the U.S. and that makes life here so worth it, and if I could take them with me everywhere, I would, but I can't. But the one thing I can take with me everywhere is the love of Christ - so that's my plan.

Well that was a lot, but I've had a great day and the Lord has used it to get my heart back on track. If you don't know Him, ask me about Him. I'd love to tell you all about Him.