We are here

"I was a lawyer... a realtor... an insurance agent... a banker"
And then
"We heard the call... God was leading us more and more to ministry... it became clear we were called to full-time ministry...apparently, God wanted us in ministry."
And then
"We talked to our pastor... our friends... our family... prayed a lot"
And then
"We visited Asbury... we loved the community here... we had other offers but God led us here... we accepted the scholarship"
And then
"God worked so many miracles... He sold our house at the last minute... He made provision where we couldn't see any possibility of making it... God moved mightily"
And finally
"And now we are here... WE are here... We ARE here..  We are HERE."

For those of you who have followed our blog since the start, or better yet, lived it with us, you may have mistaken the stories above, minus the banker/realtor/insurance part, as being our story.  But the truth is, these are the stories of the families that now share our little village in the city of Wilmore.  Yes it actually is considered a city but it would take some serious convincing of all of us that it could ever be labeled that.

Since we moved here, we have had the great pleasure of meeting new friends and neighbors from all over the world.  Inevitably, conversations begin with "Where are you from?" and "What brought you here?"  While the answers to the first question vary tremendously from Singapore and South Korea to Ohio and Texas, the answers to the second most often bear a surreal resemblance to one another.  They basically go like this:  We were there.  God called us to ministry.  It took some time but we finally answered the call.  He worked a bunch of crazy miracles to confirm and affirm us.  Now we are here."

I used to think our story was unique and miraculous, and while it is to us, it is certainly not out of the ordinary here.  God sold your house at the price you needed?  Yeah, been there, done that.  You got a scholarship out of the blue that covered your full tuition?  Not surprising.  You left everything behind so that you could answer the call to ministry?  Right there with you.  You are excited, scared, nervous, and exhilarated all at once?  Sure, I know the feeling.  You serve a a crazy big God with crazy big plans and the grace and power to lead you, provide for you, and even wow you with His goodness on a daily basis?  Yeah, me too.

The experience of being here as new family after new family move in and their stories echo yours and their visions for God's kingdom affirm yours and their excitement of what God is going to do over the next four years fuel yours is not one I can accurately put into words.  Last night after Caleb was in bed and the girls were watching a show before bed, Luke and I snuck out for a walk around our neighborhood.  As we walked we were greeted by so many people of so many backgrounds and so many stories but one common purpose; we are here.  And we are not here by some random chance or because it looks good on a resume or because it was the next thing "to do".  No, the people we talked to and the stories we've heard lead to one conclusion; we are here because we believe God has called us here in order to send us out.

There are a lot of bad things happening all over the world.  It can be disheartening.  We can see darkness and we sometimes wonder, "Is there light left?"  In the few short weeks, my heart has been buoyed by this fact; we are not alone.  Many others share our burden.  The kingdom of God has some very willing soldiers lining up for training to advance His purposes and share His life with future generations.  Like Elijah who cried out in the desert, "God, I am the only one left who seeks You" and God replied, "I have 7.000 who have not bowed their knee to idols" I have been blessed to see a tiny microcosm of the vast kingdom of brothers and sisters all over the world, fueled by the same Spirit and refusing to bow their knees.

No one here is perfect.  We (they) will be the first to admit it.  No one here feels special or gifted or particularly talented in terms of "being a Christian."  Rather, in the stories I've heard, there is a deep sense of humility, reverence and gratitude that we would even be able to participate in such a profound way in the continuation of sharing the truth of God's Word for generations to come.  

Next week we will have our New Student Orientation.  I'm sure we will meet more new families from all over the globe.  We will get picked on for being Yankees and we will pick on others for their sweet tea which is actual a thick syrup more appropriate for pancakes than thirst quenching.  We will talk about our kids and our families "back home", our plans and our future hopes, but one thing will inevitably be the same:  We were there.  God called us to ministry.  God did amazing things.  Now we are here.  And our unique story will be repeated over and over again as people nod and smile at the familiarity of it.  For indeed, WE are here.