Bargain Hunting for a Great Ministry
On Sunday the pastor asked everyone to answer the question, "Where is my mission field?" Then someone asked me if I wanted to write a ministry-related article. I don't like those kinds of questions because I'm a BOGO bargainer. For non-shoppers let me translate. It means that I like to buy one item and get the second item free, especially when it has been discounted in the clearance section while getting it on Senior Citizen discount day when I'm shopping with my mother. No, it's not cheap; it's being frugal! I like to get a big bang for my buck--in every arena. So when someone asks me to separate life and ministry and work and relationships and focus on just one I instinctively resist. I like to be doing one thing that has an impact in every area. So let me get back to the pastor's question and Jamie's request.
My mission field. I'm not sure I can really identify it yet, but in being asked to think about my present relationships, almost every significant connection can be directly or indirectly traced back to a decision I made with my husband when we moved to this area and had children. My focus would be in the school community, and I would seek to do those things that were in line with my spiritual gifts. Volunteering has been the avenue--you name it in elementary school, library helper in middle school, and now I am assisting in the high school guidance office. Often we would ask the Holy Spirit to make us alert to where the Lord was already at work and wanted us to come alongside and cooperate with Him.
A couple years ago I sensed that He was at work in a friend's life--she had sincere interest in spiritual things. She had been the PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) hospitality coordinator in the elementary school. She was a real bargain hunter and always got double the value for the cost of her selections, so of course we hit it off! We talked at school functions, shared friends, walked on sunny days when we had a particularly thorny educational issue to discuss, and swapped bargain tales. In middle school our paths crossed at sporting events and school activities, and we'd chat. In high school we seemed to bump into each other more often and ended up discussing sticky parenting issues--what parenting issue isn't sticky is what we've learned together! At one point she showed real interest in the fact that my family read and discussed Scripture passages together, so I invited her family to join us. She was interested and thought she might be able to drag her kids along, but she said her husband would have no interest in something like that. She also wanted to brainstorm how we could "give back" to the community now that our kids were getting older. We met for tea and you will laugh at the result of those conversations--we started an eating out cheap group on every second Friday of the month with spouses and no kids!
To make a long story shorter, we had a great time over Isaac's sandwiches, Buca di Beppo's meatball family size platters, and specialties at local hot spots. The group started gathering in our homes for holiday potlucks, summer cookouts and family milestones. In the background my husband had been reading the Bible with one of the guys he'd met through a "Dads" basketball league. All of the guys ended up joining them to read the Bible over time. And, yes, you've guessed it--my friend's husband is one of the most enthusiastic members of that group! They love it so much that they didn't want to quit meeting over the summer. I hear the laughter and intense discussion downstairs in what they call the "bat cave," and I would love to be a fly on the wall.
So how do bargains, ministry and life relate? Thinking about my mission field and what I might write was beneficial--it reminded me that God is at work! I guess I need to continue doing things that are in line with my gifts and keep asking God where He's already doing something in someone's life that He wants me to join. We just dropped our oldest off at college this month, and there are only a couple more years until our youngest will finish high school. Hmmm--I wonder where He will lead after this? He may not do what I expect, but I can have confidence that He has something valuable in mind. When I followed His leading to spend more time with my friend, I never imagined He had ministry in her husband's life in mind--what a great bargain!