Monday, April 21, 2008

What I will miss

I know, two posts in one day....I must have alot of time on my hands! HA!
Anyway, since my last post earlier today, I have been continuing a line of thought that I have been carrying on in my head lately. It has occurred to me that our move to Lower Macungie is definitely a more comfortable one. I will have a two car garage to park my car in instead of street-parking, which could mean a hike and a flight of stairs to my front door. I will have a bathroom and laundry room on the first floor. A nice big yard for kids and a desperate dog to run around. The list goes on and on. There is a part of me (a large part) that is excited for these "upgrades" but a part of me has been realizing how much I will miss Bethlehem. Matt was on call tonight so I packed the kids in the jogger and we walked over to our favorite pizza place, Rosanna's. It is run by a single mom who has a little boy Jesse's age. They took swimming lessons together and so every time we go there for pizza he has a little buddy to play with. I love the familiarity and the sense of community. I will miss that. I will miss our old house with lots of charm. I will miss being able to walk everywhere: the park, the market for some milk, downtown shopping and dining, Rosanna's. I will even miss the crazy neighbors we have come to love.
But there is another angle here: although I will miss alot of things about Bethlehem and the life we have established here, we are making this move primarily for kingdom purposes. It has been Matt's conviction to work, live and worship in the same community. And with the church plant happening this fall it seemed like that conviction might come to fruition. I must admit I am hesitant to call this move a mission move- I have so ingrained in my head that to be a missionary you need to be destitute, live among the poor of the poorest, NOT BE COMFORTABLE. But, I am catching on to the vision that our pastor is setting before us: that there are broken, poor people in the nicest of neighborhoods. That maybe I will be in a good position to minister to these people because I too am a pro at masking my brokenness and running from the one who binds the broken. So, the challenge for me (and Matt!) is to not be so comfortable that we miss the mission. That we not cozy up in our nice, new home and forget why we are there in the first place. To put ourselves in uncomfortable positions for kingdom purposes. To bring a sense of community where there is none because it is such a new community. It is my prayer that God continues to lay on our hearts his purpose for us and that we not get caught up in our comfort- that God will change, or broaden, my perspective of his mission field to all people. And I pray that our new home is one that brings glory to God because it is a place of His comfort. You can pray for us in this as we process the move and all that it entails and please keep us accountable to God's call for us. Thanks!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said!

:)
Andrea Chimo

Jane said...

Andrea! I need an update please!! Don't tell me you are still at Alexander?? Miss you!