But there are other things that I believe are clear as can be, things I have never stopped to consider "should I or shouldn't I" because the call is present in His word over and over and over. A few of those things, though certainly not an exhaustive list, can be collected together as follows:
1. Love. Love Jesus, love His people.
2. Serve. Serve Jesus, serve His people.
3. Give. Give to Jesus, give to His people.
It is those three callings that have guided my life. They are how I was raised, they led me to a profession, they formed the foundation of my marriage, they shaped my family life, they govern over our financial decisions and our family business, they grew our family from four to seven, and they are what I hope to spend the second half of my life working toward because I believe that my eternity will be spent seeing the big picture of why those calls exist.
One area that I know we have been called into is the area of missions. Missions takes on a lot of different forms... it can be (and is) serving the community of your town, it can be (and is) helping students in my classroom when there is a need, it can be (and is) working Royal Family Kids' Ministries with our church, it can be (and is) traveling to Cambodia (or wherever else the Lord calls) to work with an incredible ministry that already exists as God' hands and feet there, it can be (and is) volunteering with various organizations in America and around the world that are doing incredible work, it can be (and is) supporting other adoptive families financially.
Sometimes people get really prickly about mission work (much like they do about international versus domestic infant versus domestic foster-adopt adoptions). They say things like, "Why go over there and do that when people right here need you?"
Here's the thing: I agree. If you're gallivanting about the world and would never lift a hand for anyone in your own community or country... I'm not certain you're living a true life of mission.
But here's the other thing: I don't know anyone that description fits. The people I know who are raising funds to travel overseas are also the ones working with the homeless community here. The ones I know who are going to Mexico on a mission trip are the same ones who are serving at Royal Family Kids' Camp in Mentone, Alabama.
Cambodia is a place that, when the opportunity first arose for me to travel there on a mission trip, I have to be honest... I had to look it up on a map. I'm embarrassed to say that (I must have missed world geography somehow), but it's true. However, the way everything fell into place for me to travel there the first time in 2013 made it very clear that the Lord was calling the shots, not me. I returned home with a deep love for that country, a solidified love for PCL, a firm understanding of and belief in sustainable ministry, and a passion for the people I had met there. The following summer, we had the opportunity to return, and Kraig and Emma joined me on that trip. It was incredible for my daughter to have a chance to see the things I had seen the summer before and develop her own passion for Cambodia and its people. The next opportunity to return didn't come along until 2016, two years later, and that year Kraig, Kelsey, and I all three went. Same thing, a blessing for Kelsey to get to know and love that corner of the world. And my, did she. After that trip, we all (not just our family, but our mission group at church) knew that it was our last trip to Cambodia. The ministries there have taken off and are exploding with growth. The headquarters of PCL moved to another state. Our connection to Cambodia remained through supporting one of the missionaries there, Isaac, praying always for the people, the ministry, and the country, and maintaining social media contact with the many friends we made in our time there.
When our new kids came home and asked questions about the photos on our living room wall, the ornament from Siem Reap, the various things in our house that pay homage to that country of our heart, we said to each other that we wish they had had a chance to meet everyone, but we knew that season was past.
And then.
In discussions with the head of the ministry there in-country, our missions pastor was asked if there was a way we could bring a group back one more time to do some children's ministry training. Everything started to come together for a 2019 trip, 3 years after our last one and 6 years after my first. As desperately as we wanted our entire family of 7 to travel there, we knew that it was impractical and so we settled on Kraig, Emma, and Roman. Our logic was that Kraig doesn't have entirely open summers every year (whereas I do), so it made sense for him to go since the timing worked out, and Roman and Emma are the oldest and will have fewer chances than the younger two. (Francisco was out of the equation altogether due to his lack of citizenship-- more on that in a minute.) We knew it would be a devastating blow to Kelsey because she has begged to go back since we stepped on the plane to come home, but we felt like this was the best possible decision. At $1800 per person, it was going to be a challenge to raise funds for 3.
As the months went by, various things happened and hiccups came along. A few members of the team had to drop out of the trip. Separately, Kraig and I were both feeling like all six of us were being called to go. Finally, Kraig brought it up to me. I told him I had been feeling the same way, but our hesitations were the funding (now $1800 times SIX) and how Francisco would feel being left at home while ALL of us went. We both prayed some more about it and both came back with a certainty that this was what the Lord would have us do.
The first hurdle was breaking the news to Francisco. We decided to talk to him individually and also to tell Angela and Kelsey privately, so that he wouldn't have to watch their excitement. Wow, did we underestimate him. I talked to him one afternoon when we were alone in the car, and before I could finish saying, "So some people aren't able to go, and they need a few more people--" he said, "Mom. Y'all should go." I told him that is what we had decided to do, and I was so sorry he couldn't join us, and that as soon as he had a passport, I would take him wherever he wanted to go. He said, "I think the mission field the Lord has for me right now is in the United States." He THEN said, "Kelsey is going to be SO EXCITED!!!" I said I knew she was, we rode along a few more miles, and he got really quiet. I figured that it was sinking in, was feeling really bad for him, and then he said, "MOM. CAN I BE THE ONE WHO TELLS THEM THEY ARE GOING?????" Jaw drop. Who IS this kid? I would have been pouting, railing at the injustice of the immigration system, simmering in my heart that my parents liked everyone else better than me, building up resentment like it was my JOB. Not Francisco. Just ready to share the joy. Man.
The next hurdle is the funding. As it stands right now, we are 1/3 funded for all six people. Our Cottage Christmas Market was tremendous, we have had a few donations, our pizza sauce sales went well, Tricia Sherlin's awesome Trades of Hope fundraiser was fantastic, the Valentine's Parent Night Out was STUPENDOUS. We are currently selling salsa, Hometown Cleveland tees, date boxes, and running an Egg My Yard Easter fundraiser, and all are going well. We have a few more that we are almost ready to launch (and they are AWESOME), and then I have a few others up my sleeve. I have zero doubt that the Lord will provide because He ALWAYS HAS. He has proven over and over that if He calls you to it, He provides a way to do it. Raising $50,000+ in 9 months for an adoption is just one way He has recently shown that.
There are so many reasons that I want my family to go on this trip, the primary one being that I am certain the Lord wants six of us on this trip and that's enough for me. But the provision is a huge one. Emma and Kelsey have seen Him raise funds for trips in the past and they were both here to see what He did through our adoption, but Roman, Angela, and Francisco have not been present to watch God bring in dollar after dollar after dollar until it's finally the total needed. They haven't gotten to feel the exhausted satisfaction of working like crazy on fundraisers and seeing the bar on our faith chart lift higher and higher. It's life-giving and faith-increasing to ME, a 41 year old who has seen it over and over, to watch this happen. How much more so is it building a solid foundation of trust in Him for my kids to see it at 13, 14, 15, 15, and 19???
Called. He has so many reasons for it, so many ways to show it, but that's all it boils down to. We are called. And when you are called, you go. Period.
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