God had settled this issue in my heart before, but events of the last year had left me grappling with doubt once again that perhaps I'd missed it. Missed my calling, my purpose. To go into the nations. And then I heard that confirming voice again when I read that sentence. The United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world.
I brought the nations to YOU.
I heard Him say it clearly that day in early November, and I've heard Him whisper it in my ear nearly every day I got out of my car and walked across the playground toward my classroom.
My students flashed across my mind the moment I first heard it, along with all my teammates and coworkers from all over the world. I thought of all the parent conferences I've had with moms, dads, aunts, uncles, and grandparents from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, and even Argentina. I thought of my teammates and coworkers, and fellow soccer moms and dads from the same countries as well as Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.
I thought of my friends from my Life Group and Bible studies from Ecuador, Chile, and Mexico, and then I remembered my own son from Colombia, along with his sister's family from Spain and France.
God took me to Buenos Aires, Argentina as a young 20-year-old to equip me to later distantly mentor a Colombian "son" who now lives and works in the same big city where I studied. I spent a summer interning as a summer missionary in Tasquillo, Hidalgo in Mexico, and now I teach a little girl whose parents grew up in that tiny, little town where she, too, visits in the summers. I went on a mission trip to Piedras Negras, Mexico, and now I have a beautiful friend I call my little sister who lives there, plus one of my current student's families is from there, too. God allowed me to work and minister for a week in Guatemala two years ago, and now three little Guatemalan students have looked to me as one of their first teachers here in the United States.
I may teach in a public school where my faith is technically banned due to separation of church and state, but that doesn't mean I can't/don't live it out in front of them every day. It doesn't mean I don't minister to them wth Jesus' love and compassion, letting God use me to mold their character. I still influence them and model a life surrendered to Jesus, and every once in a while their families catch on.
My teammates and coworkers know exactly who I am and who I live my life for. God gives me countless opportunities each year to minister to them through prayer, encouragement, and small acts of service. They describe me as having a sense of peace surrounding me, and some have even commented that I seem to have a direct connection to God through prayer. My social media makes it clear I am a Christian, and many people have told me how my books and my blog posts have helped them want to draw closer to God.
I've joined, led, and taught women's Bible studies at my church, leading hundreds of women find a closer intimacy with God over the years. I've spoken and told my story to women who aren't even a part of my church.
I've lived through broken marriage and let God use my struggles to help others in those shoes. I've experienced loss through both miscarriage and a failed adoption, and now I can give hope to others grieving the same types of loss.
Now I sit here on my front porch, while the entire world waits in quarantine through a global pandemic, and I record daily video messages to check in with my students. My daily video literally takes me into each and every student's home to tell them I love them and care about them. I pick up my phone to conference and guide parents from at least five different countries, giving them a sense of stability and comfort during a critical time in history.
Today, on my 21st wedding anniversary, I look back at that 21-year-old girl, full of dreams and plans to "follow the call" into a life of full-time missions--assuming that meant overseas or at least past the borders of my own country.
She had a degree in ministry with a focus on education and cross-cultural communication. She was equipped with the language and the cross-cultural experience after studying abroad in Argentina and interning with missionaries in Mexico. She'd researched and chosen a mission board with her new husband and had a five year plan to get onto the field as a couple.
Instead of sending us to live and serve in Mexico, Central and South America, or even Europe, he sent us to Texas. And rather than sending us to the nations, He brought the nations to us.
To me.
In my classroom. In my Bible studies. In my Life Group. In my own family.
Via social media. Via my blog and my books. Via my church.Via adoption. And even now, especially now, via daily videos from my virtual classroom and digital conversations, while the whole world sits in quarantine.
I'll admit the thought crossed my mind many times over the years that perhaps I missed it. Perhaps I missed that "calling" to the mission field, until God convinced that nothing can thwart his plan for me. Nothing. In actuality, he prevented me/us from going to one nation and instead sent me briefly to several nations, equipping me, in order to bring the nations straight to me.
Within any given week I usually converse at least once with people in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Spain, while daily influencing whole families from at least five Central American countries. And right now, through technology, I get to go into each and every home and allow God to shine His love through me. I don't take that responsibility lightly. It's a daily reminder that I'm living out exactly who God called me to be.
Interestingly, God used a current letter from the very mission organization I'd "chosen" so long ago to speak to me today. Our calling is to follow God daily, wherever and whenever He leads, even if it's "just" to Texas.
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