What an Unexpected Joy!

What an unexpected joy it has been to partner in prayer with my friends on the mission field. When I had Levi, almost three years ago, a friend at church told me a very valuable lesson she learned after having a few children. (Thank you, Angela). She told me how nice those middle of the night feedings for a new baby can be when you spend that time in prayer. It may be one of the few consistent quiet times for prayer and is very beneficial. When Melissa, my teammate on a summer mission trip to Peru in 2005, went back to Peru as a missionary this past summer, she asked for people to partner with her in prayer. I told her I would pray for her, and what a surprising blessing it has been for me to pray for her. Although there is infrequent personal communication between us, it has still greatly helped me keep a more eternal focus. As Americans with comfortable lifestyles, it is easy to lose focus on God and his will and become very self-centered and spiritually weak. Melissa writes frequent blog posts detailing lessons God is teaching her on the mission field, and they are excellent reminders of our purpose as believers in Christ.

Also, over the past few years, my husband and I have developed a friendship with Mary and Daniel and their five children who were raising funds to go to Malawi as missionaries. As they were raising funds, they also asked for people to pray for them, so we have been doing that for a few years now. They made significant sacrifices and worked very hard for years to raise the needed funds. They finally raised enough money to move and left for Malawi this past September. Their sacrificial lifestyle extended into their friendships as well. Not only have we been blessed by the opportunity to partner in their adventures and challenges through prayer, but we have been blessed by their prayers for us and their friendship.

It seems that in the months and even the last few weeks before Mary and Daniel moved to Malawi, my friendship with Mary grew significantly. I knew I would miss her, so I tried to spend as much time with her as I could, especially the month before they moved. With my husband’s new job we were out of town four to five days a week, but in August we were in Chattanooga, so we were back in town for the same month they were back in Chattanooga from their seven weeks of training. I believe God wanted to cement our friendship and enable us to be more helpful during the time they were preparing to move. It was also inspiring to see so many people from church surround them with support and meet their needs. The logistics of moving a family of seven to Africa is overwhelming, but God’s provision through the Body of Christ, the Church, is incredible.

Time with God in prayer and His wonderful gift of meaningful friendship is amazing and truly an unexpected joy.