The other side

Robert here.

I've always known that I was set apart to work in the kingdom of God, but had no idea what that meant until the last few years.

In my head, once a person realizes he is 'called' into ministry, in whatever form the Holy Spirit chooses to reveal this 'call,' there are very few options to choose from. I knew right off that I was going to be no good at pastoring, so that option was out. Option number two was youth pastoring; that only lasted a few months, as an interim youth pastor at my home church one summer in college. The last thing was worship leader, but I can't sing, so I took voice lessons and tried to learn the guitar. That also went nowhere. I had exhausted all the 'ministry' position choices that I could think of.

So for a few years, I more or less aimlessly took potshots at what I wanted to do next. I tried music performance, aviation, auto mechanics, photography; nothing fit quite right, even though I found some measure of satisfaction in each. I looked for different churches - that also left me empty. 

Even my newlywed wife, Stephanie, couldn't fulfill my inner need for... something.

My parents hosted a missionary family in our home in Memphis at one point when I was a kid. That memory has always stayed with me, vague as it is. I remember specifically thinking how cool it was that my parents were letting a missionary family stay with us. It couldn't have been very long, but I remember the family.

For some reason, that memory has never left me, nor has the knowledge of a simple fact I felt inside: I can never be satisfied with the American Dream. 

 About age 25, I began to realize, as I worked on commercial aircraft fuel systems on call, that my life was meant for more than I was doing. I would never be satisfied until I was obeying the Lord explicitly. So Stephanie and I made the decision for me to go to Airframe & Powerplant, A&P, school, to get certified to work on airplanes. The Lord continually affirmed His plan for us to work in missions overseas and providentially gave me a classmate, Drew, whose life call was similar (*only he's a pilot. NERD!). 

 I took a somewhat humiliating job at an oil change during school. I say humiliating, because I was making a smudge over minimum wage and was turning oil filter wrenches on cars, after three years of fixing airplanes. 

 I proudly felt supremely overqualified for the job, and quite underpaid. And I thank God for my attitude adjustment! We became very grateful to have any job at all, and praised God every week for having a schedule flexible enough to fit wedding photography in on the weekends. Due to a generous manager, I also received full time insurance and benefits while working part time hours. The Lord blessed what we put our hands to, and we never went without food on the table. Even if it was just noodles and a piece of chicken, He provided. We were learning to depend on Him for everyday things!

Then things got more complex.

This is Edward! We found out that Stephanie was pregnant about halfway through school. As it turns out, having a baby changes a lot of things - the least of which are family relationships!  We began to seriously discuss what to do next, considering the implications of each move, each job, each little thing.

And ultimately the Lord kept showing us that no home, no parent or family, no job, no toy, no thing at all, is worth sacrificing obedience over. We are called to overseas missions, away, I believe, from this country of hard-hearted and stony people that have heard the Good News, or have the chance to. We are called to give up our happy, almost-comfortable life and spend it with a people who need help and need the gospel.