I stopped by an old friend's house today. We haven't seen each other since she was pregnant and now her baby is 7 months old - so obviously its been a while :-) She and her husband are now on staff at my old church heading up their internationals department, reaching out to immigrants and refugees in our city. Not what they thought they'd end up doing. They were completely sure they'd be in the Middle East by now as missionaries. So I brought her up to speed with what's going on with Kyle (he's been in Central America on a mission trip this week) and me with my new job. The baby interrupted us rather frequently with polite coo's or random squawks or just plain ear-piercing screams. Allergies have been a jerk the last two weeks, and the little guy is teething and chunking up to hit a growth spurt.At one point my friend looked at me over the rim of her mug filled with Kurdish Chai and said, 'This is NOT what I thought it would be like. Did you think ministry would be this...'
'Normal but not?' I finished for her.
''Yeah. But its so invasive, too! Like, my husband isn't my own, and I am constantly behind the scenes. Like... it never ends, but its so sporadic. I'm afraid I'm getting burned out, which scares me, because we've just started this year!"
We were interrupted by a call from someone from church who needed a more in-depth conversation, so I left with promises of getting back in touch with her soon.
But it has stuck with me. Ministry isn't what i thought it would be. Being a grown up isn't what I thought it would be like. The man God made explicitly clear that I am to be with is nothing like what I thought I would get. But on the other hand, its all RIGHT. It all FITS. Which is why we keep plugging away at it even when it makes no sense or burnout swoops in like an ugly beast.But my friend and I did come to an important conclusion: its very very VERY important to not try to do it alone. Because its easy to get isolated, and caught up in your own ministry or drama.
Consequently, we've decided a consistent ministry comparison/chai consumption/henna application date is in order on a much more frequent basis.
