A Busy Time of Year

“That is such a bad time of year for me…” I think about that statement a lot. This was something a friend told me one summer, when I asked her to consider and pray about going with me as part of a mission team in December. As I had been planning for the trip, logistics, when we would be where and what we would be doing, I had immediately thought of her. She would have been a valuable aspect to the team, but she said no.

Of course, I fully believe that God, in His sovereignty, chose the team members and used each one to accomplish His will. However, it saddened my heart to hear her justification was that December was a busy month. The trip didn’t register high enough on her priority list to rearrange her schedule.

I say all this on the eve before my husband heads out of the country for two weeks of ministry, teaching, and loving on Christians overseas. Tomorrow he flies out and doesn’t return until New Year’s Day.

Am I beside myself in frustration that the kids, my dad and I will spend Christmas alone with the half-dead tree and the dogs? Absolutely not! Am I depressed that our family traditions and plans have all been rearranged to make this trip a priority? No! Am I looking forward to what God is going to do during his time overseas? A resounding yes!

The world is lost. Our neighborhoods are lost. Our churches are filled with the lost. Our homes and families have lost people in them. Darkness is everywhere and people are stumbling through it trying to grasp onto any real speck of light that comes near.

Are you willing to be that light? Are you willing to lay aside any and all of your plans to “go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb. 13:13)? Will you share Him in this season of love?

Whether you minister to your family, your friends, your neighbors or the world, Christ is calling each and every believer to a life of love and service for His sake. Find a place to minister in your world this Christmas season. Not from guilt but out of love for your Savior.

As God sent Christ into the world to redeem His people, Christ now sends us out into the world. We have each been called. We have each been sent. Will you go?

Deanna is a stay-at-home mom and has been married to TJ for 11 years. She homeschools her three children, loves to read and writes for her own blog.