My friend shared how her heart had felt the call to something different than the role she had in her job. In her job she had been able to meet the physical needs or people, but she saw another need that she felt called to fill and wasn't able to do so directly in that role.
As I see multiple friends going off to dedicate years of their lives to missions, I see more and more the beautiful, unique mission Christ sends us each of. My friend was radiating with joy as she talked about the number one way of evangelizing being through relationships. (Have you been reading my HEART, girl!?) Funny enough, over the past week or two I was thinking how beautiful it is to be gifted with the opportunity to develop relationships with some of His dearest children (on the autism spectrum and people working in that area). I could cry just thinking about the beauty of each individual I work with.
I was thinking about how strongly I feel a call to love people exactly where they are at. I thought about how much I longed to convey the message, "You are loved EXACTLY as you are. You don't need to change as a pre-requisite to my loving you. You are BEAUTIFUL and treasured - BELOVED - exactly as you are."
"You are loved EXACTLY as you are. You don't need to change as a pre-requisite to my loving you. You are BEAUTIFUL and treasured - BELOVED - exactly as you are."
I had, in fact, been feeling a great deal of frustration with many Catholics, because I think within some Catholic groups there is the tendency to face inward and not outward -- to stay within ones little niche and only get to know people who share your views and background (an "us and them" mentality). I was sensing a closed-off-ness and a lack of acceptance and love of others from some (not all!) Catholic groups. (For clarification, I'm not turning against any Catholic teaching, but I'm saying first and foremost our mission is to start with the heart.)
For me personally, I feel a GREAT call to move outward and to get to know people in the secular world and try to understand the cries of their hearts --> people with disabilities, people who identify as LGBTQ+, etc. And NOT to get to know them with the mindset, "I am getting to know you so that I can change you," but to get to know them to allow them to experience the great gift of unconditional love and to transform my heart more and more into Christ's (there are no walls in Christ's heart) -- so that my heart truly can encompass and love each individual exactly where they are at.
This conversation with a friend truly was an answer to a specific prayer I've been praying over the past few days (whether or not I knew exactly what I was asking for) -- "take this bitterness and replace it with a heart overflowing with love."
This conversation reminded me that (while the flaws and issues of closed-off-ness that I see ARE still there in so many places), there is SO MUCH GOOD in the world! It is beautiful to see another Catholic mission that carries the mentality the has been on my heart: "Go OUT and LOVE each individual exactly where they're at."
~*~
It is SO BEAUTIFUL to see the beautiful missions Christ calls us to: the missions to encounter and love different people. Seeing my friend truly LIT UP WITH JOY over her mission in THE SAME WAY that my heart lights up when I think of my job and of the people who I am BLESSED beyond measure to have been given to love truly fills me with joy and affirms in my heart that I'm not crazy to love so much and so deeply. This LOVE is good. (Side tangent: I've been feeling shame for HOW strongly I feel drawn towards certain people, but that's another story. -- Moral of the story is: I've needed to see that this light is not shameful but is of Christ.)
This conversation was also reassurance to me that I am in the right place. To feel this much fulfillment from a job is a BLESSING! To have a job where I feel the same INDESCRIBABLE JOY and draw that people go on mission to find, that is incredible.
It's funny how God works in our lives. No one person's mission is more beautiful than another's, yet each mission is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING that individual person could be called to, and as we find our missions: HOW WE LIGHT UP!
I've always thought "the light of Christ" is an analogy, but now I'm not so sure. I think that sense of peace and fulfillment, that joy beyond expression --> that is Christ's light.
God could give me no other mission that would fill me with the joy I find in the mission I have now. None. (Cue: No Place I'd Rather Be) My heart would break at the thought of not being where I'm at, and it bursts with joy at the MIRACLE it is that God has put the people in my life that He did and has given me the HONOR to love them -- that He has appointed me that role.
~*~
My friend described this sort of peace she felt in her heart when God affirmed her steps towards her calling. I have felt that peace before. I know that peace (a confidence unwavering), and it is remarkable.
I hope everyone can find that place where they light up, that place where they are simultaneously giving and receiving in a beautiful balance.
We will find ourselves fulfilling our missions in different places throughout our lives. Where I am now, where I was 10 years ago, and where I will be in 10 years may not all be the same, but I sure hope that light will be there! (Cue: insert this song that will either make you smile or cringe)
To sum up this post, if you're not feeling full in where you are in life right now, it's okay to take a leap. At the same time, if you feel that fullness exactly where you are, how beautiful that is!
God calls to the heart. We listen and respond.
Perhaps you've already found your mission exactly where you are. If not, all I can say is:
When you find your mission, I hope you light up.
No comments:
Post a Comment