A Couple Journeys

“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the LORD had told him...” Genesis 12:1-4a ESV

In the fall of 2012, I (like Abram) felt God was calling me to leave what I was familiar with—my family who loved me and the small town in Illinois where I was born and raised. He was calling me to attend Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, TN, which was hours away. Even though I was able to visit before I attended, and it felt welcoming and like home…I didn’t know a soul at that school. I tend to be more reserved, especially when I feel vulnerable, but God took care of me. He sent me people who became my friends in that season of life, and He gave me people who became like my second family after they invited me into their homes and lives. 

I thought about how in the future I wanted to be like those families I knew. They welcomed me and other college students into their homes for meals, let us stay the nights with them on breaks, or actually let us live with them for periods of time. I stayed with one family for my 5th year of college and even for a couple of years after that. Little did I know that in 2022, I would be doing that very same thing for my sister.

“So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Cannan.” Genesis 12:4-5a ESV

Now, flash forward to 2022. My husband, daughter, and I moved to Johnston City, Illinois, from a suburb of Nashville, TN. We don’t have any family here; although, we are about an hour and a half from my hometown, where my brother and many of my extended family live nearby. Despite being away from them, we wanted to find an affordable home that we could call our own, be closer to more of my family, and for the first time in my life, I wanted to live just minutes away from my best friend of more than a decade and her family. God seemed to open doors for us almost instantly. We found a home we liked in our price range, my husband was hired for a new job before we even moved, and things just kept falling into place. But along with the doors being opened, there were also endings and hard things that we would have rather not gone through.

We moved in the week of Thanksgiving, and not long after that, my sister felt for sure that God was calling her back to Illinois. We felt that God had blessed us, so we were able to have her live with us when she moved here. My hope of wanting to be like those families I knew who took me in came full circle when we were able to open our home to my sister. But I do have to say that we got the better end of the blessing just by having her here with us! Just like Abram, we may not know all that God has planned right away. We don’t know when or who He may place in our paths to serve for periods of time or just in passing.

However, we as followers of Christ are called to serve as He did. The Gospel of Mark states: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 ESV. Those God puts in our path may not be easy for us to serve—it has been easy with my sister, but other people may not be as easy to serve. However, just because something isn’t easy doesn’t mean it isn’t good. God will help us to love and serve those He sends along the way if we allow Him to move. Serving can also be uncomfortable, and He may ask us to open our homes to people when our homes are not exactly as clean as we would like them to be. He also may ask us to give of our time or resources, but these things were entrusted to us by God to take care of—they all come from Him! Who are we not to share our blessings? 

I like the verse in Galatians 5:13 that goes like this: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” I must admit that this is really hard for me, but I want to have more of a servant’s heart. I want to be less worried and focused on myself and my needs, because God has and will always take care of me. God, open our eyes to who you want us to serve. Show us how you want us to serve those in our lives and those we come into contact with throughout our week. Help us to be more like you and serve as you served. Amen.